Safe And Sound
by Baby You're My Immortal
Summary: ALL HUMAN. After two years of being away from school to recover from an attack that left me broken physically and mentally, I finally decided to come back. I never expected to actually make friends or to fall in love...it's just a shame it's with my teacher and it's a shame that I have a dark secret that I'm too scared to share with anyone. **COMPLETE**
1. Chapter 1

Safe And Sound

* * *

**Once again, I decided to attempt a Vampire Academy all human story. I've had this idea swimming around in my mind for absolutely ages, but I never got around to actually writing it. The style of it is more like a diary which is something I've never tried before, so I guess it's a little experimental. Without further ado, let me begin. Enjoy!**

* * *

**We can't prevent what we can't predict – Mary Alice Young**

* * *

Chapter One

* * *

**Monday September 3****rd**** 2012, 8:30 am, going into school.**

How to deal with being held back for two years for spending time in hospital and in therapy:

1) Don't make eye contact with anyone.

2) Listen to music. That way people think you're busy and don't ask questions.

3) Wear bland clothes. You won't stand out if you wear black and grey.

4) Keep texting. Nobody bothers a texter.

5) Don't look too down. You don't want anyone to know you're miserable.

6) If someone speaks to you, be friendly and polite, but DON'T make conversation yourself. That invites unwanted attention.

* * *

So, that was the list that I wrote this morning as I dressed in dark colours like I advised myself. As it stands, I couldn't remember a damned thing I wrote on it as I walked up the long, winding path that led to the school building. Was it make eye contact? Or don't make eye contact? Surely it wouldn't be the prior. That would draw attention. That would make people feel as though it was okay to approach me. No, it had to be the latter. Oh, for God's sake what did it matter anyway? No matter how much planning I put into it, today is not going to go well at all.

Why am I here, you ask?

Two years ago, I went camping with a group of friends. My parents told me it was a bad idea, but I wouldn't have it. On the first night, I was attacked by someone that I care not to remember. For ten minutes he chased me and I hid behind trees or in long shreds of grass with the hope of tricking him. Nothing worked apart from when he tripped and dropped the knife he was holding. I scrambled to get it and took a wild stab. It pierced something, but I couldn't tell what it was in the dark, so I got up and ran. No one ever found anything apart from blood-stained grass.

I was taken to hospital for my own injuries and then later found myself in therapy for the ordeal I had faced. Two years later, I found myself going into year eleven as an eighteen year old.

That's putting it simply.

* * *

Topics of conversation to not indulge in:

1) Therapy.

2) Hospital.

3) Knives.

4) The fact that I could be a possible murderer.

* * *

Now that didn't sound too hard. Well, that was before people started talking to me and the situation rose to an even higher level of awkwardness. I could just see how it would go:

"_Hey, have you ever seen the Rob Zombie remake of Halloween?" I'd ask._

"_Sure, who hasn't?" They'd reply, thinking I was just trying to be friendly with them and find common ground. _

_"Well, you know Laurie?" I'd go on. "Funny story actually. My life is just like hers. You know, possibly murdering a criminal and then spending time in therapy. Isn't that just great?"_

* * *

Oh, lord. Kill me now.

* * *

**Monday September 3****rd**** 2012, 9:00 am, sitting in Form.**

"Welcome back, Rose" My form teacher said, flashing me a wide smile. Did I know him? Perhaps he was one of my teachers before I turned into a knife-wielding lunatic. Who knows? Surely if I'd seen him before, I wouldn't forget him. He had a light, but noticeable Russian accent and his hair was a lot longer than any male teacher should have it. He wore a T-shirt and jeans unlike the others who all wore shirts and ties.

"Um, do I know you?" I questioned, attempting to ignore the stares from my fellow class-mates. Oh god, this man was making me go against all of my rules. Maybe if I got my phone out and started texting, he'd leave me alone…or I could listen to music. The more I thought about it, the more I realised that the list was ridiculous. Not one thing on there had helped me at all.

"No, but I read your file" He answered, smiling once again. Were all teachers this weird? I couldn't remember anymore, it had been two years since I was last face with one. If I had the choice of taking on my attacker in the words or this teacher, I think I'd choose the attacker. "I'm Mr Belikov." He held out a hand for me to shake which I hesitantly took.

"Nice to meet you" I said politely…something I had been practicing ever since I realised that I was going to have to go back to school. "I'm Rosemarie Hathaway. Well, I'm Rose." Oh brilliant, I've been in this classroom for five minutes and I've already started rambling.

"Great, well you'll be sitting next to Lissa" He said once the awkwardness had reached a breaking point. He gestured to a seat at the back of the class next to a blonde, friendly-looking girl. She gave a warm smile as I walked through the row of seats to get to the table that I would be sharing with her.

_Don't trip. Don't trip. Don't trip._

She had already pulled the seat out for me and when I thumped down and the class returned to their own conversations, she launched straight into talking.

"Hi, I'm Vasilisa Dragomir, but everyone calls me Lissa" She began, as she flashed me a smile that I could only dream about being able to possess. "I hope you don't mind, but I had a look at your timetable and we're in so many of the same lessons together. Honestly, I really think you'll like our year group. Most of the students here are friendly and I'm sure they won't ask you about what happened to you in those two years"

"How do you know that I was held back for two years?" I asked, betraying rule number 6. I should have just let her talk and answered small questions only.

"Oh, everyone knows that you were off for two years" She answered as her brows furrowed in confusion. "Didn't you know that? It's common knowledge in this school. You've got so many stories about you, but nobody actually knows the truth. You're like a legend in this school. Everyone's been so excited to see you."

"So, people have stories about me?" I asked. Surely one of them would be close to home.

"Yeah, there are the usual ones of how you were in a car crash or you fell down the stairs and had amnesia. You know, the ones you'd expect to hear." Lissa explained all the while with a broad grin on her face. "But then you always got the more adventurous stories about you. There was one that said that you beat an old lady of the head with a plank of wood and spent the two years in a young offender's institution. The weirdest one was that you got into a big fight with your Mum, moved to Paris and became a prostitute."

* * *

The problems with those stories:

1) If I was in a car crash it probably would have been in the local newspaper.

2) I can remember perfectly well about my life.

3) Come on, beating an old lady over the head with a plank of wood is just sick. Do I really look like the type of girl to do that?

4) I'd make a very bad prostitute. I'm too violent and angry to be a whore…unless my tricks were into that kind of thing.

Okay, getting off track here…

* * *

**Monday September 3****rd**** 2012, 11:00 am, break time.**

I guess I could be thankful that it was the first day back at school for everyone. Everyone was too concerned at trying to remember their timetables, stuff their homework in their already full bags and bully the new kids in year seven. People weren't noticing me quite as much as they possibly could be. That would more than likely fade when people grew more used to their own lives and could spare some time to focus in on mine.

"So, how did you find your lessons?" Lissa asked as we took a seat at the picnic benches with a group of people that I didn't know. "Nobody ask you what happened?"

"They were okay" I lied. Honestly, it had been two years since I had last picked up a text book. I didn't understand 'Of Mice And Men' anymore, or German and Chemistry. All I could understand was that the person sitting next to me was smart, so it would probably be a wise choice to copy everything off them. "There were a few people who asked where I had been, but not many. In fact, he was one of them" I pointed down the table to where a guy with black hair and crystalline blue eyes sat.

"Christian!" Lissa scolded as she shot him a look of warning. "Why did you poke your nose in Rose's business" Confusion swept over his face for a moment before his eyes landed on me and he broke into a grin that give him a boyish charm.

"Oh, hello" He greeted, moving from his seat to take the one next to me. "It's nice to meet you properly. So, is it true that you were a prostitute?"

"No, it's not" I answered, mustering up the best smile I could as I looked to Lissa for help.

"Christian, be nice" She warned once more. "Rose, is my friend" _friend. _There were a lot of things that I was expecting to be called today. What Christian said to me had fit the bill, but being called a friend had not been expected at all.

For a moment, I sat there stunned. Perhaps today wasn't going to go as badly as I believed it was.

"I deeply apologise, Rose" Christian said with a wistful sigh as he took my hand in his and pressed a light kiss to my knuckles. "Forgive me?" And just like that, I was no longer mad at him. Of course he was going to be curious. Who wouldn't be. And I had no doubt in my mind that Lissa was probably going to ask me at some point what happened. They weren't being cruel.

"Yes, I forgive you" I chuckled before my eyes fell on a head of red hair. "Is that Mason Ashford?" Goodness, I never thought I would see him again in my life. Back when I was in the right year at school, Mason was one of my best friends. It seemed that he was going to the college this school had. Wow, he cleaned up really well. Back in the day, he was kind of a dork, but he was cute. Now he would be classed as hot. Where did the time go?

"Yeah, do you know him?" Lissa asked as she watched my eyes stare at Mason. Well, she was insightful…I'd give her that.

"Yeah, we used to be in the same year group" I answered. "So, what is he doing now?"

"He's in his last year at the college here" She answered. "He's one of the smartest people here. Come on, he's studying Maths, Biology, Chemistry and Physics and he's getting A's in all of them. That lad's going somewhere"

"Do you know everything about everyone here?" I asked, a hint of amusement glinting in my eyes as I watched him with interest.

"Well, put it this way" Christian began answering for her. "Lissa is friends with everyone. And when I say everyone, I mean _everyone. _Everyone tells her everything about their lives and she just takes it in like a robot."

"Oh, please" She scoffed, attempting to not look proud of herself for having so much knowledge in the lives of others. "I'm nothing like a robot." The only response from Christian was a raise of his eyebrows. "Oh, so do you know who Mason's dating?"

_MASON DATING!? _

Okay, this was just too surreal for me. Mason tried to get dates. Oh, yeah. He tried like hell to get dates, but he was always single. Never managed to hit much luck when it came with girls.

"Avery Lazar" Lissa answered. I could tell from the way that her mouth opened again that she was going to tell me more, but I jumped in way too quickly for her.

"WHAT!?" I shouted, my brows furrowing as I looked at Mason once more, seeing him in a completely different light. "No, that can't be true! Mason would never date someone like her. She's hot, popular and I'm sorry, but she's the biggest bitch in the world."

"No one's denying that" Christian responded dryly, his eyes travelling across the courtyard to fall on Avery who was now standing with Mason, her hand clasped in his. Oh my goodness, this couldn't be happening. "Look, I don't know what Mason was like when you knew him, but he certainly must have changed. He's like the rest of them. He's…a dick"

"No wonder he didn't come to visit me in the hospital" I muttered under my breath, glaring daggers in their direction.

"What was that?" Lissa asked as she took a sip from the bottle of water that she held in her delicate hand, only mild curiosity etched on her face.

"Oh nothing" I answered, turning back to face them. So, Mason was a popular kid now and had changed. Well, if anyone was going to be able to stop any questions being asked about me, it was Mason.

**Note to self: **talk to Mason.

* * *

**Monday September 3****rd**** 2012, 12:30 pm, Maths**

Top ten things to hate about high school:

1) The chairs. They'll be the most uncomfortable things you will ever have to sit in your entire life.

2) The smell. Come on, everyone knows that smell that all schools have that makes your nose instantly crinkle when you first walk through the doors.

3) The lack of personal space. Get back on your side of the desk, Mia Rinaldi!

4) The blunt pencils. Would it really kill you to sharpen them on a morning Mr Belikov?

5) Paper-cuts. It should be illegal for schools to use paper. My hands are cut to ribbons.

6) The questions. Stop asking me questions when I haven't been to school in two years! It's just plain cruel.

7) The lingo. I don't really care if you 'went out on the lash cos you're belta.' Please use proper English.

8) Homework. I come here for over six hours a day and you want me to do extra work!? So not going to happen.

9) The lack of haste. Okay, you might not want to get to your lesson, but please don't make me walk like a snail behind you.

10) Students who think they're adults. No, you're sixteen. Just live your childhood whilst you can.

* * *

Factorising. The word itself sounds terrifying. What on Earth does it even mean? Okay, we'll just break it down, it's fine. So, there are letters and numbers. Oh, and a plus sign…but what to do with them? Oh for God's sake! In what world is this even remotely normal. I can get away from a 200 Ib attacker, but algebra is my downfall.

"Are you okay?" The blonde girl called Mia asked. Genuine concern was in her eyes which put my mind at rest a little.

"Um, not really" I answered, shaking off the awkwardness with a little bubble of laughter. "I guess you've heard that I haven't been to school in two years. I don't really know what I'm doing when it comes to algebra."

"Christ, does anyone?" She joked. Immediately, I took a liking to this girl. When I mentioned the two years that I had spent off school, she acted as though I hadn't even said anything. This girl was going to be one that I stuck with. Hell, she could even have my side of the desk if she wanted. Go one, Mia. You can disobey number 3 of the hate list. "Here, you can just copy off mine."

"So, does Eddie Castile still go here?" I asked her after I had copied a few of the answers down. Her face took on an immediate dislike.

"Yeah, he does" She answered stiffly. "He's in the college too. He's still hanging around with Mason Ashford too."

"Oh god, are you one of the girls who know everything about everyone too?" I asked with a slight laugh, attempting to take the annoyance away from Mia.

"No, I just know about Eddie Castile" She answered, continuing on with factorising. "He's changed just like Mason has. I used to be friends with them back when everyone used to talk to each other."

"When was that?" I asked, unable to remember any of the year groups mixing when I was in the right year of school.

"Oh, it was last year" She answered. "You weren't here then. It happened over the summer. It's all kind of new to us too"

"At least I'm not the only one who's a little behind on things then" I sighed. She shot me a gentle smile and patted me on the shoulder as she closed her Maths book.

"Don't worry about it, Rose" She assured. "You'll get used to things again. It'll just take some time. Oh, and just so you know, I don't believe that you're a prostitute."

"Jesus, thanks, Mia" I laughed, following her to get my bag. Time to face woodwork with Mr Belikov.

* * *

**Monday September 3****rd**** 2012, 1:30 pm, Woodwork**

I've never liked the smell of sawdust. Never in my life. My dad was always into stuff like this and had a workshop in the shed that positively reeked of wood shavings. Every time I got sent in there to clean up for being bad-which was often-I'd come out with a sore throat.

When we were all in the classroom, Mr Belikov told us to take our seats and began telling us what our design brief was. Oh brilliant. We get to make anything that could be sold in a souvenir shop. That's it; I'm making a box that says London Eye. That'll do. I won't get a good grade for it, but at least I'll pass.

"So, get designing" Mr Belikov set off with a wide smile before he began pacing to see what ideas people had.

Lissa was artistic. I could tell as soon as her pencil-blunt might I add. Yep, Mr Belikov, you've just committed number 4 on my hate list-hit the paper. Her hand swept with a grace that I could only dream of. She was designing a model of Mickey Mouse that you could control like a puppet. The destination that she chose was Disneyland, Paris.

"Great work, Lissa" A voice from behind her praised. When I looked up, I saw a pair of deep brown eyes looking down at my own work. He leaned over me, his hands resting on my table as he inspected what I had drawn. I was actually quite good at drawing, I just didn't really care for this subject. "I don't think I can say quite the same for you, Rosa."

Even if I hated the subject, I was hardly going to tell Mr Belikov that after he went out of his way this morning to make me feel comfortable…even if it did turn out to make me even more uncomfortable.

"Sorry, Mr Belikov" I sighed, truly meaning it as I looked down at my design to see that it made me want to start anew. Coming back to school was supposed to be a new start for me and I was already throwing it away by barely trying in lessons. "I'll try again."

"Hey, if you're struggling, you can always come back here at lunch times to get some extra support" He suggested with yet another smile that was probably only plastered on because it said he had to in the teacher handbook. "I'm quite good when it comes to Maths and English too."

"Really?" I asked, genuinely surprised that he cared enough to help me out with subjects that weren't even in his area of expertise. "That would be great! When we can start?"

"How about tomorrow lunch?" He asked. "I can help you out with your design and we can start making it."

"Thanks, Mr Belikov" I said, flashing him with one of my own rare smiles. "It means a lot" He said nothing more, simply continued pacing and offering helpful suggestion to the other class members. It was official; Mr Belikov was by far my favourite teacher here.

"You're so lucky" Lissa sighed as she continued to shade her model of Mickey Mouse. "I mean, I know I'm dating Christian and everything, but he's simply delicious."

"You're dating Christian?" I asked in genuine surprise. Of course she was dating Christian. When I first saw those two together, I pictured them more as brother and sister than anything else, but now it made sense. They were sincerely perfection together. So different, yet exactly the same.

"Yeah, we've only been dating for three months" She answered, a dreamy look taking over her face. Oh god, I hate love sometimes. Well, three months classes as a long-term relationship when you're in high school.

"Oh, and you think Mr Belikov is delicious" I laughed as I trained my eyes on the back of his head. It was true that he was good looking, but delicious may be going a bit over the top. Okay, that was a lie…he was drop dead gorgeous.

"Please, everyone in this school thinks he's a God" Lissa explained as she leaned back in her seat, finally happy with her design. "He's just so…sexy"

"You might want to not let Christian hear you say that" I reminded, keeping my eyes on Mr Belikov the whole time. God, she was right…he is perfection.

"Oh no, Christian's pretty laid back" Lissa said, now taking her eyes off Mr Belikov. "He knows what all the girls in this school are like."

Oh God, I was beginning to act like all the girls in this school.

* * *

**Monday September 3****rd**** 2012, 3:30 pm, walking out of school**

By the time the end of the day finally rolled by, I was wrecked from my first day here. I had never realised how hard a day at school could be back when I was doing it five days a week. Lissa made sure that I walked out with her to ensure that I wouldn't be bothered by anyone asking me about what happened in the two years that I just seemed to vanish of the face of the Earth.

She held hands with Christian the whole time and kept one arm linked with mine as Mia talked rapidly about how annoying she found Avery. It was this kind of talk that I despised most about school. Stupid gossip that was so pathetic, yet still managed to be so interesting and left me hanging on every single word that Mia said about the 'blonde cow.'

"I heard she was a prostitute" A voice whispered from behind me. I attempted to tune it out, but it was virtually impossible. Were people really that interested in knowing about what happened to me? Surely there had to be more interesting things for them to talk about.

The voice ceased abruptly and I turned to see what could have caused it, but only to see Mason barging past him, ensuring that he knocked his shoulder with his own.

"You might want to find a new topic of conversation" He hissed before walking ahead with his hand entwined with Avery's and with Eddie beside him.

"Hey, Rose" He greeted with a daring smile before walking even further ahead of us. Hmm perhaps Mason wasn't quite as bad as everyone was making him out to be.

* * *

Things to do tomorrow:

1) Keep making good progress with Lissa, Christian, and Mia. They seem like a safe group of friends to have.

2) TALK TO MASON! He doesn't seem quite as bad as Christian said and he could give me a good reputation around here.

3) Go to Mr Belikov's at lunch. Get work done…don't just gawp at him the whole time!

* * *

**So, what did you think? I've never written in this style before, so I wasn't entirely sure of how this was going to go. I hope you all enjoyed!**

* * *

_**Baby You're My Immortal**_


	2. Chapter 2

Safe And Sound

* * *

**Wow, thanks to anyone who reviewed on the first chapter, it really meant a lot! So, I hope you all enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

**Man may have discovered fire, but women discovered how to play with it – Candace Bushnell**

* * *

Chapter Two

* * *

**Tuesday September 4****th**** 2012, 8:00 am, my bedroom.**

Yes, I'm a moron. I don't need any of yo u to tell me that it's ridiculous for m e to make such a big effort with my looks . Who would have thought that I would actually be pleased and excited to go to school?

The reason as to why I was doing this was unbeknownst to me. There were a number of possibilities:

1) The chance to see Mason Ashford again.

2) The chance to gain a good reputation.

3) The fact that I was going to be spending my lunch with Mr Belikov.

Okay, now all of you have the permission to call me ridiculous.

* * *

My phone rang just as I was about to set off for school. Weirdly, I was annoyed about it…who was it who could be stopping me from getting to school? Oh goodness , I was becoming a nerd. Please God fix me!

"Hello?" I greeted, locking the front do or and setting off towards the car.

"Hey, honey" My Mum cheered. Why was she always so overly happy about things? "I'm sorry I didn't come round to the flat yesterday to see how your first day back went. So, how did it go?"

"It went quite well" I answered, flicking through the CD's in the glove box. "Hey, Mason and Eddie go to the college t he re!"

"Do they really?" My Mum asked in shock. Mason and Eddie practically lived in the house that I used to live in with my parents. My Mum always treated them like her own sons that she never had. "That 's excellent! Why don't you invite them round to your flat? I could come round and cook for you all. Oh, that would be such a lovely reunion of the little gang"

"Oh, no" I started as I inserted the key s into the ignition and began the short journey to school. "That won't be necessary. I still haven't had a proper chance to talk to them yet. Maybe I'll be able to today. They've changed, Mum"

"Really? Oh sweetie, how have they changed?" She asked with disappointment dripping from her voice. "I'm sure that you 'l l all make up again as soon as you get talking."

"Oh, they're just really popular now" I answered casually, taking a left turn that led into the school car park. "Mason's dating Avery."

"He is not!" She gasped. I could only imagine the look of pure horror on her face right now. The thought was enough to make me grin. "Why would he do something like that? He's so much better than s he is."

"Yeah, I know" I sighed wistfully. "Maybe all the popularity went straight t head. Don't worry, once I'm done wit h him he'll realise what a huge mistake he 's been making. Anyway, I'm going to have to go, I'm at school now."

"Okay, honey" She said. "Make Mason see sense and have a good day." I hung up the phone and continued on walking, a mission of fulfilling salvation for Mason planted firmly in my head.

* * *

**Tuesday September 4****th**** 2012, 8:45 am, in the yard**

I saw my opened and I grabbed it! Mason was alone as he sat at the picnic benches. It was the first time I had seen him again without Avery hanging around him like a bad smell. He was playing around with his phone without a care in the world, completely unaware of the fact that I was going to ambush him about why he didn't visit me in the hospital and why he had changed over the years.

"Hey, Mason" I greeted, taking the seat opposite him at the picnic bench. His eyes shot up to meet mine with a look of pure surprise before his sardonic manner returned once more.

"Rosemarie Hathaway" He said delicately as though he was forming his sentence carefully in his head. "Now I certainly wasn't expecting this." Absolutely every thing had changed about him. His whole attitude was different from the last ti me I had spoken to him. It was sickening , yet somehow attractive. Instead of being the kid who fawned over me, he was now the man who didn't care about anything in life. His face no longer held any of that baby fat that it used to and now his bone structure was defined like one of those men that you see in those fashion magazines.

"Yeah, I wasn't really expecting to be h ere either" I agreed, feeling that surg e of happiness that always came when tal k ing to Mason. God, I hadn't realised h ow much I really had missed being around h im.

"So, what can I do for you?" He asked, turning back to fiddling with his phone a s though it had only been a matter of a few days since we last spoke. Had he really not missed me at all?

"Why didn't you come to visit me in the hospital?" I asked bluntly as always. His fingers stopped dancing across the keypad on his phone before placing it on the light wood of the picnic table.

"You really don't waste any time, do you ?" He chuckled weakly. I guess he really wasn't expecting this.

"Not when what I need to know is important" I retorted smugly as I raised my eye brows at him. Yes, eyebrows. The one eye brow raised thing is just too hard.

"And why is it so important?" He asked, retrieving his calm exterior and going back to his phone as though this was the most casual conversation we could have. I was beginning to believe that Mason thought anything could be casual.

"Because you were my best friend, Mase" I answered, hoping that the use of 'Mase ' might soften up a little, but it didn't look like it did. He simply raised one eyebrow. Damn him, he could do it! "I was in the hospital and therapy and all I needed was a friend to be there for me, but you were nowhere to be found. You and Eddie just vanished from my life. "

"Oh please, we didn't vanish from your life" Mason defended with a scoff as though he was above me now.

"Like hell you did" I snapped, leaning over the table as far as I could without looking like I was trying to put the mo v es on him. "Ever since that night in t he woods, I've never seen you apart from yesterday. I'd call that vanishing."

"Fine, I shouldn't have done it" He sighed in frustration, once again leaving his phone forgotten on the table. "Happy now?"

"Yeah, I'm ecstatic" I said sarcastically. "Couldn't be better. Why didn't you come see me?"

"Because it was all my fault" He answered and for once, I believed that he was being completely honest. "It was my idea to go camping and I just left you when you were getting chased. I couldn't face the thought of going to see you in the hospital knowing that it was me who put you there." Well, I hadn't expected that. How could he think it was his fault that I was in hospital?

"Mason, none of that was your fault" I pressed in a soft tone. He seemed upset b y what he revealed. I didn't want to make him feel worse. "It was just a freak accident that nobody could have possibly predicted. I only needed you to be there with me. I could never have blames you for that."

"I'm sorry, Rose" He sighed, leaning over the table to take my hand in his own. Oh, that touch had been missed. My best friend had been missed.

"So, why the hell are you going out with Avery?" I asked with a laugh in a feeble attempt to make things less awkward. " I seem to remember you hating her with me two years ago. What changed?"

"Oh god, you're not really going to hold that against me, are you?" He laughed, burying his head in the hand that wasn't holding mine. "I asked her out on a date as a dare from Eddie and she actually said yes. Ever since I started dating her, I got really popular. It's great being on the top, you know?"

"Mason!" I scolded, my thumb running over the top of his hand. "Why would you d o that? We were always the geeks here. Why would you want to be popular? Do you even like Avery?"

"Yeah, but I didn't want to be a geek for the rest of my life" He explained. "I liked Avery at the start. We were good together. She wasn't completely crazy despite what you might think, but now she's just too weird for me to get away with. It's like she's obsessed with me."

"You're up your own arse a bit, aren't you" I joked. If you told me two year that Avery Lazar would be obsessed w it h Mason Ashford, I would have laughed right in your face. These things just didn't happen.

"Come on, don't be like that" Mason sigh ed. "It's just complicated with her. Oh god, here she comes." I followed his eyes to see bleached-blonde Avery practically prancing up to him. As soon as her eyes fell on our hands, her giddy smile turned into a stony glare. She took the seat next to him and practically snatched away his hand.

"Hey, baby" She greeted, her head already buried in the crook of his neck and pressing kisses to it. Please get a room . "Um, why are you talking to Rose?" Honestly, I was surprised that she managed to get her lips off his neck long enough to get the goddamn sentence out.

"I think I'll just leave" I sighed before Mason had to get himself into trouble by sticking up for me. "I'd rather not talk to 5 ft. of lip-gloss anyway. I'll see you later, Mase."

* * *

Why do we all have to hate Avery Lazar:

1) She's quite clearly a class A bitch.

2) She clearly dyes her hair that colour because she thinks guys are attracted to it.

3) The hair dye aforementioned has completely gone to her head.

4) She really does wear too much lip-gloss .

5) She's Avery…need I say anymore.

Perhaps my hate for her was a little uncalled for.

* * *

**Tuesday September 4****th**** 2012, 9:30 am, English.**

"Come on, 'An Inspector Calls' isn't that bad" Lissa sighed as she flicked through the play we were reading. Oh, it was bad. I'd had to study it way back when I was in year nine and I hated absolutely every second of it. "It's actually pretty interesting."

"No, I'm agreeing with Rose on this one" Christian defended as he looked on at h is own copy of the play with utter disgust. "We get it, the girl committed suicide. Do you really have to write a whole play about it, Priestley!?"

"Christian, it's not just about suicide" Lissa scolded as she folded her arms in front of her chest defensively. Could one person really care about literature so much? "It's about class. You know, we're like Eva and Avery is Mrs Birling. "

"You did not just say that" Christian scoffed. I felt like I was sitting in the middle of a domestic. "Oh God, Lissa what made us fall in love?"

"Hey, don't be so mean" She retorted with a hard glare. How I found myself in these situations I'll never know.

"Are you quite done arguing?" I questioned, beginning to think that I would prefer to read the play than listen to these two. "God, I forgot high school could be this tiring."

"Wow, someone's got a problem with their attitude" Christian jeered, forgetting about trying to win his argument with Lissa. Well, at least they weren't arguing with each other. I guess I could take the brunt of it if it meant that I would be stuck in the middle of those two.

"You know it, Chris" I sighed, returning to my play reluctantly.

* * *

**Tuesday September 4****th**** 2012, 12:30 am, Maths.**

As lunch time grew nearer, I found myself growing apprehensive. It wouldn't be long before I had to go to Mr Belikov's t o get help with my design. The brief time that I got to see him this morning just wasn't enough. Throughout the whole day I had to keep reminding myself that I actually had to do work rather than just imagine all of the romantic endeavours we could find ourselves in. Damn, he was good looking.

"What's gotten you so excited?" Mia asked once she noticed that smile on my face . Hmm, she must have thought I was always a moody cow like I was yesterday.

"You know Mr Belikov?" I asked, too aware that most girls in this school would know who he was…probably know a hell of a lot more than just who he is.

"Who doesn't?" Mia swooned, fanning herself like a young teenager with a crush… oh yeah, she was a young teenager with a crush. This being held back two years lark was so confusing at times.

"Guess who gets to spend a whole lunch time with him" I grinned, making up some answers that looked as though they could be right.

"You lucky bitch" Mia said as her mouth dropped open. Aha, so Lissa was right ab out how most people in this school liked Mr Belikov. At that moment, I felt as though I had one over them. It was fun feeling as though I was on the top.

"Aw, Mia's jealous of me" I jeered as ignored the irritated looks of my teacher . It seemed as though most teachers here were afraid to speak to me…almost as though they were scared of whatever I did t o be held back for two years. For all they knew I could have pushed one of t heir own kind down a flight of stairs.

"Jealous of you?" She scoffed jokingly. "What have I got to be jealous of?"

"The fact that I spoke to Mason this morning" I answered seriously. I had been trying my best to find the right time t o tell her about this. After all, she had seemed as though she'd moved on from t he friendship yet. Her head snapped around to face me and she fixed me with a st on y glare. Whether it was aimed at me or the thought of Mason was beyond me.

"What happened?" She asked curtly. "Did he act like a dick like he always does w hen someone beneath him attempts to talk to him?"

"He actually didn't" I answered earnestly with a fond smile over what we spoke a bout today. It was a shame that I couldn't really tell her exactly what happened . Mason was the only one that I wanted to talk to about that night. There was no one else who could possibly understand the fear that I went through when that beast was chasing me through the woods.

"Well that is a surprise" Mia commented with a look of genuine surprise lurking in those doll-like eyes that were simply too blue.

"We just talked about what happened to me" I sighed, hoping that my vagueness would go unnoticed. Mia didn't seem like the type to press on the matter. She didn't yesterday. She had no reason to today . "Then we talked about Avery."

"Oh, I'd give anything to knock her into the middle of next week." Mia revealed with a sly grin as though she was already planning all of the ways that she could inflict pain onto that girl. Hell, maybe I'd join her. The idea did sound appealing.

"Well, you'll never guess what Mason thinks of her" I began. "He so doesn't want to be with her. He thinks she's weird. He seems to think she's obsessed with him"

"Oh come on" Mia grumbled as the excitement faded from her eyes. "Everyone with a brain knows that. She's always by his side. Night or day, she's there. I'm surprised you actually managed to talk to Mason alone."

"I barely even had time to speak to him. She showed up before we could really talk about all the dirt" I went on, placing my pen on the desk and leaving my work forgotten. "She was all over him like she thought I was going to try and drag him from her talons. She's so possessive. I think she's going to be the bunny boiler type when she gets married."

"So, what did you say to her?" Mia asked as the excitement returned. The idea of any conflict with Avery seemed to make her delighted. Well, it would get me excited too if someone had a fight with that girl. She's a witch…no doubt about it.

"I may have had some offensive comments to make about her lip gloss" I replied evasively. For some reason I didn't want to go into it. Mason wanted to be with her for reasons that I can't even begin to comprehend. I didn't want to jeopardize that for him. Why did I have to be such a good person?

"Rose, you're my new hero" Mia professed in a valiant manner. "It's about time someone finally stood up to her."

"I'd hardly call that standing up to her " I retorted modestly.

"Well, it's a start" Mia said as a plan of revolution began to form in her head .

* * *

**Tuesday September 4****th**** 2012, 1:00 pm, lunch time.**

By the time lunch actually came along, my hands were clammy and my thoughts were running wildly in my head. When was he going to get here? When was he going to grace me with his presence? Oh god, why couldn't time just move faster? To keep my excitement under control, I went hunting around the class for the design that I had started to work on last lesson.

Just as I was hunched over one of his drawers, I heard the door crack open and because I'm just that unlucky, I got excited and jumped up…hitting my head off the top of the drawer in the process.

"Ow!" I exclaimed, my hand going instinctively for the top of my head as I dropped the stack of designs that the rest of the class had done.

"Rose, are you okay?" Mr Belikov laughed as he rushed forward to help me retrieve the papers. Only I could be capable of doing something as stupid as that.

"I'm glad you find my pain so amusing" I said sulkily as I took a seat at the nearest desk to his. My comment only served in making him laugh more. Was my misfortune really that funny?

"Don't be like that" Mr Belikov chuckled as he sat down on the seat next to me with a look of thought contorting his face. Was my design really that bad? Yes, indeed it was. "So, you chose to do London. Why don't you make a cuckoo clock in the shape of Big Ben?"

"In what world would I ever be able to make that?" I asked sarcastically, shooting him a look of disbelief. He leaned forward and all I could smell was his musky scent. Oh sweet mother of God.

"You won't be making it" He answered with a coy smile before moving away from me again. Oh, please come back!

"What?" I questioned with utter confusion. "Hey, are you going to make it for me ?" It sucked being hopeful. You always just get let down.

"Of course I'm not going to just do it for you" He scoffed with a playful smile . Oh, that smile was something that I wanted to see every day for the rest of my life. "Just keep coming on a lunch time. We can work on it together."

"Why are you making me do something so much harder than what everyone else is doing?" I asked with a groan. Why did I think this was going to be an easy subject to pass? Sometimes I really do think that I'm the biggest idiot in the world.

"Because I really think you can do well in this subject" He answered honestly.

"Oh yeah?" I questioned, my eyebrows raising…emphasis on the plural! "How would you know this? You've only known me for a day."

"It's this sixth sense that I have" He joked. "Hey, I got a degree in this subject. I think I can help you make a clock and do it well."

"Thanks, Mr Belikov" I sighed.

"No problem, Rose" He said before he turned serious. "So, are you going to tell me about why you were kept back for two years?"

"You really don't waste any time, do you?" I echoed the words of Mason. Wow, I must have really hounded that guy if he felt anywhere near as bad as I did right now. He sprung this questioned on me so randomly.

"I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable" He jumped in, knowing he was in hot water right now. "I just want to make sure you're okay and try to help you in any way I can."

"All I'm going to tell you is that it involved me in hospital with multiple injuries and then it involved extensive therapy" I admitted, fiddling with my hands to turn my attention away from the story I was telling. "It was a horrible time of my life and I was filled with…denial? Christ, I don't even know. All I know i s that I tried to accuse my therapist of being more fucked up that I was." In any other situation, I couldn't imagine Mr Belikov condoning swearing. I think he was just too wrapped up in my story to even notice it.

"Rose, you're so much better now" He attempted to comfort me as concern flashed onto his face.

"There's more to the story" I cut in, but I was too ashamed to admit it. "There's stuff that I can't tell you about what happened. If you know, you'd send me away to some asylum"

"Rose, I'm sure it can't be that bad" He continued. He was probably just stuck in the teacher role. They're always supposed to make you feel better. They don' t have to tell the truth to do that.

"Oh, you have no idea" I laughed weakly just as the bell rang. Thank God something had managed to get me out of this incredibly awkward situation.

"I'll see you at lunch time tomorrow" Mr Belikov sighed, finally settling on the fact that he wasn't going to get any more out of me just yet. "If you ever need to talk, you know where my room is."

"Thank you, Mr Belikov" I muttered before hurrying out of the classroom.

Oh, I'm naïve. And I was thinking all I would do in that lunch time lesson was gawp at him. I honestly didn't expect to reveal those things. Oh God, high school sucks!

* * *

**Thanks for reading everyone! Hope you enjoyed it!**

_**Baby You're My Immortal**_


	3. Chapter 3

Safe And Sound

* * *

**Again, thank you to anyone who reviewed on the previous chapter. I hope you all enjoy this one and thanks for reading!**

* * *

**It's a lie to think that you're not good enough. It's a lie to think that you're not worth anything – Nick Vujicic**

* * *

Chapter Three

* * *

**Tuesday September 4****th**** 2012, 9:30 pm, in Mason's car.**

"Why are you making me do this?" I asked with an exasperated sight as I crossed my arms over my chest sulkily. Mason only regarded me with mild amusement as he drove carefully through the winding roads that I knew oh so well.

"Talking to you this morning made me realise how much I'd missed spending time with you" He answered with a boyish grin that automatically triggered my need to roll my eyes.

"So, what's the real reason?" I questioned, a smug smirk threatening to invade my face. I watched him intently to see him bite his lip and look sheepish towards me.

"It's Avery" He burst out in anger, his hands gripping the steering wheel hard as though he was going to rip it off at any second. "She wanted me to meet her brother tonight, so I told her that my mum was ill and I was looking after her."

"Aren't you supposed to be in love with her?" I asked, secretly taking enjoyment in hearing Mason complain about this rate, he wouldn't be with her for much longer and he'd be returning back to my group.

"Shut up, Rose" He muttered as we drove, his knuckles turning white. "She's suffocating me. You know me, Rose. You know that I'd love to be in a stable relationship, but still have time for myself."

"Yeah, I know that" I sighed in agreement as I rested my head on my fist. "So, why didn't you just suck it up and meet her brother?"

"I don't want to be with her anymore, Rose" He answered, taking a quick left turn and parking the car in a dark lot. He turned to face me, the only light coming from the headlights. "How am I supposed to tell her that, though?"

"You just do it" I answered with brutal honesty. "Just do it…it'll only be worse if you leave it any longer." Oh, poor Mase. He didn't deserve to have a relationship as bad as that one. He deserved a girl who doted on him and he the same for her.

"One day I'll pluck up the courage and I'll do it" He sighed with a determined nod of his head. Oh, why did he even bother to go out with her in the first place?

A loud thud on the bonnet of the car tore me away from my thoughts as I jumped away from whatever it was that was trying to get in the car. Laughter from outside alerted me that there was no attacker. Damned ordeal in those woods had freaked me out something awful.

"You're fucking dicks" I heard Mason grumble as he opened his car door and clambered out. When I finally followed him out, I found myself face to face with Eddie Castile and Adrian Ivashkov. Well, I certainly wasn't expecting that.

"Hathaway" Eddie greeted with a broad grin and a half-armed hug. For once, I held my tongue and refused to go through the same lecture about not visiting me in the hospital. I did the same for Adrian as he wrapped me in his arms, the smell of Cloves almost unbearable.

"Aw, have you missed me, Rose?" Adrian asked with his usual wicked grin that would manage to make any awkward situation bearable.

"Time heals all wounds" I responded with a grin of my own. It may have been a while since I last spoke to Adrian, but it felt as though we had never stopped. I guess Adrian has the ability to make people feel like that.

"You have it wrong, my dear" Adrian chastised, feigning hurt. "Absence makes the heart grow fonder."

"Does it really?" I questioned, as I allowed confusion to sweep over my face mockingly. "Not for me it hasn't."

"Ah, you haven't changed a bit" Adrian grumbled as he led us into the pub that we used to sneak into when we were younger.

"So, is this some sort of reunion?" I asked Mason when I was sure that Adrian and Eddie wouldn't be able to hear me. It felt weird to pretend as though nothing had ever happened between us all after the attack. Thoughts of abandonment were all that were going through my head.

"I tried to tell them not to" Mason answered with an apologetic smile and a shrug. "They feel awful about not coming to visit you when you were in the hospital. I think they're just trying to make it up to you."

"Far be it for me to be a bitch and stop them from doing something nice" I sighed, deciding to endure the awkwardness and leave them with their pride. Perhaps on the off chance we could all pick up where we left off.

"Hey, that's the spirit" Mason cheered as we took a seat in the corner of the pub and Adrian went to get drinks. Even the seats felt as though I had sat in them only yesterday with my gang. Nothing felt as though it had changed.

After taking only one sip of my drink, I froze in a shock when I heard a familiar bubble of laughter.

"Is that Mr Belikov?" I asked as I peered around the pub in search of the man who owned the Russian voice. My eyes fell on him. He was at the complete other side of the pub next to a pool table, yet his voice resonated clearly to us.

"Oh yeah" Mason answered as he craned around to see him as though it was the most casual thing in the world. Well, it probably was. Maybe it's just because I'm head over heels attracted to the man. "He comes in here quite often with some of his friends. I'm not sure who they are. They don't work at the school."

"Does he know you guys come here?" I asked, beginning to think that the trip here was going to be a lot more fun if Mr Belikov was involved. "Doesn't he try to keep you away from it?"

"No, why would he do that?" Adrian laughed, lighting up a cigarette once more despite that law. "Hey, I know the guy who owns this place. He won't say anything about me smoking."

"Mr Belikov's a pretty swell guy" Eddie went on…Adrian was never the one you could get a straight answer from. "He knows what guys are like. He's hardly going to forbid us to drink. Hell, we're eighteen. There's nothing he can do about it even if he wanted to."

"Aw, I think someone's got a crush on Belikov" Mason teased, already sensing why I was so inquisitive about him. Mason had always been the one to know me like the back of his hand. It seemed that time hadn't changed that one bit.

"Oh come on, I don't like him" I lied with a careless shrug even though I could feel my cheeks heating up and palms sweating.

"You so do" Mason laughed, sipping his drink carefully. My eyes were still trained on Belikov and as soon as he started to make a move towards the bar, I downed my drink and leapt up.

"Anyone want another one?" I questioned, probably more eager than I should have been. Mason could tell exactly what I was doing, but humoured me even so.

"Yeah, I'll have another pint" He answered with another of his ever so famous grins. Yep, he definitely knew exactly what I was doing.

With a deep breath, I sauntered over to the bar and leaned over like they did in the movies.

"Hey, can I have a pint of beer and a dry martini?" I said, lacing my words with a seduction I didn't even know I possessed. I could feel Mr Belikov's eyes burning holes into me and the mere thought of that was enough to send my heart racing.

"Hello, Rose" He finally said and my grin turned into a full on smirk. Oh, it was great having him as a teacher. Innocently, I turned to face him and fixed him with a warm smile.

"Mr Belikov" I greeted warmly. "What a surprise seeing you here." He rested his arms on the bar with me, his hair falling slightly over his eyes as he nursed his drink in his hand, tentatively taking a sip. How could he make the sip of a drink look so damned hot?

"Hmm, I think it's a surprise to see you here" Mr Belikov said with a warning look that showed me that he disapproved of me going to bars. Oh, but it was fine for the guys to go…makes sense. Ah, sexism is the worst! "Shouldn't you be getting a good night of sleep before your day of school tomorrow?"

"Are you being serious?" I asked genuinely. Although he had only been my teacher for two days, I still felt as though I was entitled to assume things of him. I assumed that he had been the kind of teenager that went out drinking and probably got up to worse things than even I did.

"No, I guess I'm not" He admitted with a shy smile. Mr Belikov? Shy!?

**Note to self: **Try and make Mr Belikov shy more often. He looks so damn cute!

"Thanks for the drinks" I said to the bartender, but as soon as I tried to pick up the pint, Mr Belikov snatched it away from me.

"Let me help you" He said with a sweet smile before taking the drink over to our table and letting me follow.

"Thanks, Mr Belikov" I said, almost unable to believe my luck tonight.

"Hey, Belikov" Adrian cheered once he noticed him approach the table. "Come sit with us. We could use someone who's actually fun." And just like that, I saw a complete change in Mr Belikov's attitude. It was as though he wasn't even a teacher when he was with them. They called him Dimitri, they drank alcohol, and they talked about guy stuff while I just sat there with my dry martini feeling rather awkward.

* * *

**Tuesday September 4****th**** 2012, 11:00 pm, in the pub.**

Reasons why Mr Belikov (I mean Dimitri) manages to make things awkward for me:

1) He's simply divine. Really who can concentrate properly when a man as sexy as him is in the room?

2) He's so smart. Yeah, I knew he was smart, but he's even smarter than I can comprehend. He's like…super smart.

3) The guys seem to love him. They hang on his every word and I feel bad if I take any of his time away from them.

**Tuesday September 4****th**** 2012, 11:30 pm, still in the pub.**

I was convinced that no one at our table was ever going to make a move to leave and I was growing more and more tired as the minutes dragged past. I hadn't uttered a word to anyone for half an hour and the guys were getting drunk…including Mr Belikov. Damn, I mean Dimitri. It's so weird calling him by his first name.

"Shouldn't we be going now?" I finally asked once Mason brought up rugby. I wasn't getting into that boring conversation! Only Dimitri seemed to register the fact that I had spoken. He managed to sober up enough to check his watch and nod.

"Yeah, we should" He answered with a wistful sigh as he looked at his finished pint. Did he really like drinking that much? As soon as he stood up, Adrian, Mason and Eddie followed as though they were in absolute awe of him. God, boys are so ridiculous.

We walked back to the car. Well, I walked. They stumbled. Once we reached Mason's car, I demanded the keys. The last thing we needed was to get stopped by the police.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow" Dimitri sighed, shaking the hands of Adrian, Mason and Eddie and taking my hand in his, pressing a quick kiss to the knuckle. "Good evening, Rose."

With that, he left and I sat in the front seat of the car with shock all over my face.

"Isn't that kind of inappropriate?" I asked once we were on the road.

"No, Dimitri's not like other teachers" Mason slurred from the seat beside me. Could I really trust the words of this man? "Besides, you're eighteen. It'd be different if you were younger" I suppose what he was saying made sense.

* * *

**Wednesday September 5****th**** 2012, 1:10 am, in Mason's car.**

By the time I had finally managed to get Adrian back into his house and in bed and then the same with Eddie, it was early in the morning and the thought of a proper night sleep now seemed like a dream that wasn't anywhere near my reach. At least I only had to get Mason back home.

He was a lot easier to handle. He wasn't quite as excitable as the other two when he was drunk. He was easy to take care of and always complied with exactly what you said.

"Come on, let's get you in the house" I sighed as I helped him clamber out of the car before returning the keys to his pocket. I led him up the stairs and into his bedroom in his flat. He constantly giggled at whatever and kept wrapping my hair around his finger. Why did I have to keep getting myself into these situations!?

By the time I finally managed to get him into the room and get his jacket off, I was worn out and trying to get him to lie in bed was harder than I thought it would be. When I finally pushed him down, he locked his arms around my neck and pulled me down with him.

"Mason, I need to leave" I laughed as he hugged me tightly.

"You're really pretty, you know?" He whispered before descending into yet another fit of giggles. Glad to know that my looks are so funny to you, Mase.

"Um, back at you" I said awkwardly, fighting to stand up again, but his grip on me was too strong.

"I like this dress" He stated, his hands brushing the fabric at my thigh. Oh god, was Mason actually trying to come onto me? If he was, I could expect some death threats from Avery at school.

"Mason, I really need to go home" I said with a voice so calm it shocked even me. He released me reluctantly and gave a goofy wave as I left and started the walk back home.

What the hell actually happened in there? Never in my life did I expect that I would ever have to face pushing Mason away from me because he was trying to feel me up over my dress. Oh God, ever since I went back to school everything's been so weird and surreal.

Reality set in right at that moment as I walked through the back streets that led to the flat that I lived in.

I was in the dark.

Alone.

It was early in the morning.

Who knows what could happen to me? Ever since that night in the woods, I was paranoid that something bad was going to happen to me. I was paranoid that I may not have succeeded in killing the man that was after me and that maybe he was still out there…looking for me.

Just as quick as the panic rose within me, it diminished and I found that I could laugh at how silly I was being. Nothing was going to happen to me.

Even if someone did start chasing me, I had lived on this estate for as long as I could remember. I'd be able to run away and get back home quicker than the attacker could ever imagine.

After what felt like years, of looking over my shoulder and palm sweating, I finally reached the door to my flat and climbed the steps to mine wearily.

The bed was too difficult to get to. So I simply curled up on the sofa, closed my eyes and attempted to sleep off the hangover that I was sure to get in the morning.

* * *

**Sorry, it's a little shorter than the other two chapters! Hope you all enjoyed it, though and thanks for reading!**

**Baby You're My Immortal**


	4. Chapter 4

Safe And Sound

* * *

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed on the last chapter. I hope you all enjoy this one!**

* * *

**We come to love not by finding a perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly – Sam Keen**

* * *

Chapter Four

* * *

**Wednesday September 5****th**** 2012, 7:30 am, in bed.**

The hardest thing I have ever had to do was summon up the energy to open my eyes this morning…and I don't lie. By the time I had finally managed to get to sleep last night it was well past two in the morning.

Reasons why I don't want to go to school this morning:

1) Mason came on to me and I'm not sure if he remembers it.

2) I'm tired as hell and probably won't be able to concentrate anyway.

3) I still don't know if I should call him Mr Belikov or Dimitri.

As much as these things made me not want to go to school, I knew I had to. The idea of seeing Dimitri was too interesting. Who knew what was going to come next when it came to him? I sure as hell didn't.

* * *

**Wednesday September 5****th**** 2012, 9:00 am, in form.**

Walking into form was so much more awkward than I thought it was going to be. Dimitri's eyes were on me like a hawk as though he believed that I was going to scream at the top of my lungs about how I know where he went last night. Well, I was probably wrong. I was probably just being paranoid and absurd like usual.

"Rose, can I speak to you outside for a minute?" He asked just as I was about to sit down, forcing me to weave through the many tables to get out into the corridor where he was stood. Hmm, perhaps this was one of the few times where I wasn't being paranoid.

"What do you want?" I asked once the door of the classroom was closed as I tried to ignore the pounding of my heart and the moistness of my hands. How could he possibly make me feel this nervous with just one look? It's so unfair!

"I just want to apologise about the way I acted last night" He said with a look that told me that he had always tried to be professional…the idea that that was slipping away from him was a shock even to him.

"There's no need to apologise" I found myself saying as I replayed his lips on my hand over and over in my head. As much as I may say it's inappropriate, I enjoyed it and I wouldn't say no to having it happen again.

"Rosemarie, don't make excuses for me" Dimitri went on with a wave of his hand, the look of disappointment with himself still flashing clearly in his eyes. "What I did was unacceptable. You're a new student here. Well, kind of. You should be eased into these kinds of things. I should have kept my distance. You need to walk before you can run."

Honestly, I couldn't see where he was coming from or what he even meant by his words. Was what he did really that bad according to him?

"If I accept your apology, can we go back in?" I asked, feeling the grin rise to my face before I could stop it. Oh, he probably thought I was making fun of him now.

"Of course" He answered rather seriously. Was work always going to be this serious with him?

"Apology accepted" I smiled, but before he managed to open the classroom door, I grabbed onto his wrist. Oh god, what the hell was I doing!? His eyes left mine to stare at his wrist where my hand was gripping on for dear life before going back up to my eyes. "Does this mean I get to call you Dimitri now?"

"Indeed it does" He grinned, leading me back into the classroom. At least one mystery was solved now. I now knew what to call him.

As soon as I sat down by Lissa's side, she bombarded me with questions, "I heard you were at the pub last night with Mr Belikov, Mason, Adrian and Eddie. Am I right?"

"Yes."

"So, are you guys all friends again?" She asked.

"Yes."

"What did Mr Belikov want to talk to you for?" She asked. I guess this question was going to be harder to escape from. It's not like I could just say 'yes' again. She'd definitely know something was up if I did. What I was feeling right now was a weird thing to explain. Hell, it barely even made any sense to me. Lissa had been wonderful to me ever since Monday, but I felt as though I had to keep this to myself. I didn't know for sure if I could trust her. Time would tell.

"Oh, he just wanted to check if I was settling in okay" I lied, hoping that my brief hesitation wouldn't tell her that I wasn't telling her the truth. She eyed me suspiciously and my heart began to pound in my chest much like how it had when I was talking to Dimitri. She couldn't possibly know that I was lying, could she? Oh, but she could. I knew then that I would never be able to pull off a lie with her. She was way too perceptive for her own good.

Even so, she left it alone…but not before shooting me a pointed look that told me we would talk about it later. Oh, what on Earth was I supposed to say to her? The truth would probably be a good place to start.

* * *

**Wednesday September 5****th**** 2012, 11:15 am, Maths.**

Recent findings out about high school:

1) Nothing can stay a secret for long…even if it's nothing really important and everyone already expected it. It always comes out.

2) News travels fast here. Seriously, people that I don't even know are talking about how I went to the pub with Mason, Adrian and Eddie and happened to have a drink with Dimitri whilst I was there.

3) Not everyone's nice about the news that travels fast. Especially not girls. It's weird. They all seem angry that I had a drink with him.

By the time Maths had finally came around, I was relieved. I'd be sitting next to Mia. I wouldn't have to put up with any awkwardness because I knew that she wouldn't be bothered about my drink last night. She'd probably press for a few details and then find something more interesting to talk with me about.

I was wrong.

She said nothing as I sat down. She kept her head facing forward and kept completely on her side of the desk as though she was afraid she was going to catch something from me. Her face held a stony glare and her movements were rapid and savage. For instance, snatching the eraser from my hand as though it was a bomb about to go off at any minute, scratching my palm roughly with talon-like fingernails that were painted a dangerous shade of red.

Wow, she was really pissed.

Perhaps she was just having a bad day…or she was annoyed at me. The latter seemed more likely. Well, she was perfectly civilised to anyone else who spoke to her.

"Mia, what's wrong?" I finally asked after several disgruntled sighs every time I looked over at her book to copy an answer. She whirled on me in an instant, but simply glared once more.

"I heard about you little rendezvous at the pub last night" She answered, her lips set in a straight line. As soon as she finished speaking, she tightened her lips until I could barely see them. Oh God, she really was angry about that.

"It was hardly a rendezvous" I sighed, feeling an anger bubbling up inside of me that I hadn't realised was there beforehand. Why was everyone acting as though I was the bad guy? I hadn't done anything. I hadn't even wanted to go to that stupid pub in the first place!

"Well, what would you call it?" She asked, going straight back to her work and scribbling answers on the page angrily.

"I would call it a misunderstanding" I answered, clenching my fists under the table. Where had this zero to one hundred rage came from? "It's not like I chose to go for a drink with Mr Belikov" Calling him by his first name seemed too risky at this point. "I went with Adrian, Eddie and Mason and Mr Belikov just happened to be there. The guys were the ones to ask him to sit with us. I barely even spoke to him." Mentioning him kissing my hand also seemed too risky. Perhaps that little detail could be saved for a later day.

"Well, next time you have a little drink with Belikov make sure you text me and I'll come down" Mia sighed with a grin. She must have a huge crush on that man. Yep, not telling her about the brief kiss on the knuckle was definitely a wise choice.

"Of course I will" I smiled, pleased that I had gotten over the first argument I had ever had being back here.

"Glad we got that sorted" Mia commented with a flick of her blonde hair. "I've been dying to tell you something." Oh, how I love my little gossip girl. "Mason broke up with Avery today." My jaw dropped. I mean it literally dropped. I was surprised it hadn't hit the table. Maybe he had finally decided to listen to my advice. Oh, this was fantastic!

"What!?" I exclaimed, no longer caring that I was in a class. "What happened? When did it happen?"

"Just before this lesson" Mia answered, looking rather smug that she had gossip for everyone. No wonder news travels fast. Mia's probably the one spreading it to everyone she sees…even if she doesn't know them. "Mason just walked clean up to her and said what he thought about her. So, everyone knows that Avery is a possessive bitch. Isn't that great?"

"Too great" I laughed, feeling as though the world was finally beginning to make sense once more. Maybe there would be a way for us to be on top instead of Avery. "How's Mason feeling, though?"

"I think he's taking it a lot better than I thought he would" Mia assessed. "I think he's just glad to be a free man once again. Obviously he'll be sad about it, but I think he knows it's for the best. I just wish he'd let us all be there for him. I wish he'd stop letting the popularity go to his head."

"Well, if I managed to become friends with him again" I went on, "I'm sure you could too. He's changing. I'm sure of it."

"You can get us all in with the guys again" Mia said, her eyes lighting up like neon lights down in the city as her brain formed a plan. Something told me that her plan would probably be horrifically awkward for me.

"How am I supposed to manage to pull that one off?" I questioned with an air of disbelief radiating off me. When I came to this school, I didn't expect to be asked to perform miracles. If Mason was going to talk to Mia again, it would have to be Mia to put in the effort and do the work. I couldn't possibly sort out this problem for them, could I?

"It's really quite simple when you think about it" Mia sighed as though this plan should have come to her ages ago. I never thought I'd see the day where I would be a pawn in Mia Rinaldi's grand scheme of things. I couldn't tell if I should laugh or cry. "All you need to do is make plans with them and invite a couple of us along. Not too many or it'll be obvious what we're trying to do. Surely things would just work out from there. They couldn't possibly not want to be friends with us once they got to hang out with us properly again. Oh, I'm a genius."

I had to hand it to her. She's quite a genius for coming up with that. Although it was so plain and obvious, it was brilliant. It couldn't possibly fail. Mason would never know what we were up to…and the idea of it didn't sound too awkward. Well, I'm sure the first few minutes of them meeting each other once more would be deathly awkward, but that's inevitable.

"Okay, I'll help you" I sighed. "I'll get back to you on what we're going to be doing."

"Thanks, Rose" She smiled widely, giving me an affectionate pat on the shoulder. "You're the best."

* * *

**Wednesday September 5****th**** 2012, 1:00 pm, lunch time.**

I forced Mason to come with me to Dimitri's. I figured he could use the company of a friend after the break up. If it had been me, I would want the comfort. It didn't matter about the awkward encounter last night. Mason's wellbeing meant a lot more to me.

Dimitri didn't mind me bringing Mason. In fact, he seemed quite pleased to see Mason again. As long as I did my design, he had no trouble with him being here.

"So, how did she take it?" I asked, drawing a sketch of big ben. "I can't imagine she'd be too cool about it all."

"Nope, she wasn't" Mason sighed sadly. "She told me she hated me. She told me I was vermin and she told me that one day she'd kill me. I guess it's just the usual stuff for a girl as dramatic as her."

"Who on Earth are you talking about?" Dimitri asked, taking his eyes off the laptop on his desk for a moment to stare us down. Was student talk really that interesting to teachers?

"Avery Lazar" I answered, already feeling giddy about having a bitching session about that witch of a girl. "Mason just broke up with her." Dimitri moved away from the laptop and took the seat beside me, filling me with his scent.

**Note to self: **always choose the seat next to Dimitri. He smells so goddamn good.

"So, I'm guessing it didn't go very well" Dimitri deducted. "There'll be other girls, Mason. She just obviously wasn't the right one for you."

"That reminds me" I interrupted. "Mason, you need to do something with me. Come round to mine or something soon."

"Sure, I'll drop by tomorrow after school if you want" Mason answered. I tried to block the look of happiness on his face. He couldn't really like me, could he?

"That's perfect" I said with a bright smile. Surely I'd gain more friends if I was the one to end the feud between the two gangs. It was a perfect way to stop all the rumours going around the school about me. It's a long shot, but maybe people would stop asking me if I had been a prostitute.

"You know, you're also more than welcome to come back after school to get this project done" Dimitri jumped in with a warning look at Mason. What was wrong now? "I honestly wouldn't mind staying back to help you. I really want you to get a good grade in this." Wow, he turned eager pretty sudden.

"Thanks, Dimitri" I said awkwardly, trying to ignore the funny looks I was getting off Mason. Why do these things happen to me? "I might do that some time…once I've settled in."

"You're welcome here any time" He added.

* * *

**Wednesday September 5****th**** 2012, 3:30 pm, walking out of school.**

As soon as I fell into step with Mia, Lissa and Christian, I draped my arm loosely around Mia's shoulder. I was completely unable to keep the smile off my face. Mia was going to be so pleased that I managed to swing this. I was utterly unable to guess how Lissa and Christian would feel about this.

"You three are coming over to mine tomorrow after school" I said with a look at each of them. "Meet me outside the gates after school tomorrow. I've got someone to give us a lift there."

As if on cue, Mason walked past. "See you tomorrow night, Rose." He said, completely oblivious to what would be waiting for him. Lissa's and Christian's jaws dropped.

"You didn't!?" Lissa gasped in shock and possibly nervousness.

"Oh, but I did"

* * *

**Hope you all enjoyed this chapter and thanks for reading!**

**Baby You're My Immortal**


	5. Chapter 5

Safe And Sound

* * *

**Thank you very much to anyone who read the previous chapter. I hope you all enjoy this one!**

* * *

**Make your lives a masterpiece. You only get one canvas – E.A Bucchianeri**

* * *

Chapter Five

* * *

**Thursday September 6****th**** 2012, 9:00 am, Form.**

Lissa was incapable of staying quiet the duration that we were in form. I swear to God that I'm not even exaggerating about it. As soon as she sat down, she started banging on about what she was going to say to Mason when we were at mine. She had tried to think of many angles to go with this. My favourite being the one where she slapped him and demanded an explanation for the way he had acted. Funnily enough, she didn't like that one quite as much as I did.

"How about if I just act as though nothing happened over the years?" She asked as she bit her fingernails, a bad habit she had that I had noticed from the get-go. "It'd be like we were all meeting each other for the first time. Maybe a blank canvas is the way to go."

"Yep, maybe" I answered in a drawling voice that made it rather obvious that I didn't really care much for this subject. Of course I wanted their little gang to get back together again…I just didn't want to talk about it for the entire day.

"Are you even listening to a word I'm saying?" Lissa questioned with an accusatory tone. Well, she was very perceptive. I was a fool to think she wouldn't notice my complete lack of interest.

"I'm listening" I answered truthfully. Perhaps it was best not to tell her that I didn't care about a word she was saying. She still looked sceptical of me, but still chose to go straight back to talking about Mason. Oh, great. Isn't there anything else that we can talk about? Why is Mason always the centre of every conversation I seem to have with anyone? "So, how are you and Christian doing?" Yes, it was random…but anything to get off the topic of Mason was welcome. Having him come onto me was still a little weird for me.

It was as if Lissa didn't even notice the change in conversation. She switched ever so fluently into talking about Christian that it was like it was the same topic she was talking about previously. Wow, it was easy to deter her.

"Oh, we're great" She said happily. At least one person's love life was working out for them. Mine was just a mess. Hell, mine was non-existent. "Oh, you should come out with us at the weekend." Of course I didn't want to go, but I didn't want to say no to her. She looked so happy at the prospect of spending more time with me and getting to know me better.

"I don't think I will" I answered, trying to put it as delicately as possible to ensure that I didn't hurt her feelings. "I wouldn't want to be a third wheel."

"You wouldn't be a third wheel" Lissa waved off, apparently not taking any offence whatsoever by my rejection. "Well, if you change your mind you can just give me a call. You're welcome any time." So many people had been saying that to me lately, but I just couldn't take their word for it. How could people be so open and friendly with me? I never once thought people would be so eager to bring me into their friendship groups.

"Thanks, Lissa" I sighed, rather overwhelmed by the show of affection. "I might just do that."

* * *

**Thursday September 6****th**** 2012, 11:00 am, Break.**

Choosing where to sit at break is hard because:

1) If I sit with Mason, it looks like I'm choosing him over Christian, Lissa and Mia.

2) If I sit with Christian, Lissa and Mia, it looks like I'm choosing them over Mason.

3) If I sit alone, I'd get laughed at by the rest of the school.

I just can't catch a break, can I?

"Having trouble deciding where to sit?" Dimitri asked, coming over and standing right in front of me.

"Am I that obvious?" I joked, pleased that I wasn't standing alone. Would I get laughed at for talking to Dimitri? Nope, probably just hated by most of the girls and the boys wouldn't think twice about it. Perhaps Mason would.

"Just a little bit" He laughed, pulling his coat tighter to his body in an effort to conserve more heat. "What's wrong?" Did I really want to unload all of my high school girl problems onto him? If it meant talking to him for longer then I was all for it.

"It's like this big division is between those two groups and if I go to one, I'm offending the other." I explained, my eyes going from Mason's to Lissa's as I told the story. "I'm trying to bring them all together again. That's why I invited Mason to come round to mine tonight. Mia, Lissa and Christian are going to be there too. They'll have to talk to each other then."

"Do you have a death wish?" Dimitri finally asked once I had finished. His question shocked me. I honestly thought that this would be some sort of reasonable plan.

"Um, no" I answered carefully. Was this a trick question? "What makes you ask that?"

"Well, Mason in the same room as those three is not going to go down well" Dimitri explained. "They hate each other. I mean full on hate. The amount of times one of them has been excluded for a week for starting a fight. It's usually Christian, but you understand what I'm getting at."

Thanks a lot Mia. Thanks very much for leaving out this crucial bit of information. Oh God, they were all going to be round my flat tonight. This is going to end in disaster. As soon as I get my hands on Mia, she's dead. Hmm, maybe I'll be the next one to be excluded for a week.

"You know, I could just give you detention tonight" Dimitri went on. "That way you wouldn't have to invite them round to yours." What was Dimitri's problem? Why was he so insistent on me going back to the class after school?

"It's fine" I sighed. Shouldn't I be jumping at the chance to spend more time with him? God, I really am a messed up person. "I'll deal with those four by myself. If anyone tries to start anything, I'll kick them out straight onto their asses."

"Remind me never to get on the bad side of you" Dimitri joked just as the bell rang. He began walking into the direction of his classroom as I headed in the other. "I'll see you at lunch" He called.

* * *

**Thursday September 6****th**** 2012, 11:10 am, Maths.**

Mia was not impressed with me…once again. As soon as I sat down, she stared at me as though I had rabies. I couldn't tell if it was because I didn't sit with her at break or because I talked to Dimitri instead.

"What's wrong with you now?" I asked with a grin. It seemed rather fun to annoy Mia. She was so easy to anger.

"Why didn't you sit with us at break?" She asked and I noted some hurt in her voice. Oh, I didn't want her to feel bad about herself. Maybe I shouldn't tease her anymore.

"I was talking to Mr Belikov" I answered simply, thinking that calling him Dimitri would probably push her over the edge and would then probably result in her screaming at me in front of everyone in the class. Yes, I do believe that she's just that insane to do something like that. It's inspiring and terrifying all at the same time. I guess only a few people possess that quality. I used to be one of those people. Ever since the attack, I had kept to myself…I lost that quality after the extensive rounds of therapy.

"I know he's to die for, but we want you with us at break" Mia went on, her voice surprisingly soft as though she was trying to comfort us. Well, that was quite a turn of events. "Honestly, we all really like you. You'd be a killer addition to our group." Yes, that's right. I could be a KILLER! Brilliant word choice, Rinaldi.

"You didn't tell me about the fights you often get into with Mason" I said, ignoring everything she had just told me. At that moment, I realised how annoyed I actually got about Mia not telling me this. If she wanted me to help her, she shouldn't keep things from me. It's unacceptable.

She stayed silent for a while. She was most probably unsure of how she should go about explaining her reasons for leaving me in the dark about it. "I didn't want you to say no to helping us." At least she was honest about it. "You don't know how much it would mean to me to be friends with him again. I promise you that I'll be on my best behaviour tonight. If it doesn't work, I'll leave Mason alone for good. Please do this for me."

"Okay, I'll do it" I caved, but before she could get too giddy, I raised a finger to stop her. "If you ever try to pull a fast one on me again, you'll regret it. Okay?" Her smile fell before she nodded hastily.

"I won't ever do it again" She promised. "Scout's honour."

"I believe you" I sighed, trying my absolute hardest to ward off the feeling of anxiousness at the meeting we would be having tonight. The thought of doing work in Dimitri's class after school was sounding more and more appealing by the second. Would it be too late to change my mind now? Yes, Rose. Yes it would.

* * *

**Thursday September 6****th**** 2012, 1:00 pm, lunch time.**

"So, did you talk to Mia?" Dimitri asked as we sat at opposite ends of the desk, picking through our dinner instead of doing the work that I was supposed to be doing. Dimitri was too much of a distraction. He always went off topic and I always let him. This was more of a friendship rather than a teacher-student relationship.

"Yeah, I did when we were in Maths" I answered sadly. As much as I may have told her that I forgave her, I was still miffed by the secrecy. If she wasn't willing to meet me halfway, there would be no way.

"How did that go?" He enquired. "Judging by the tone of your voice, you don't seem too happy by what happened."

"Well, aren't you perceptive?" I teased, probably just trying to make him forget about the question.

"I am" He agreed before his face turned serious once more. "I'm so perceptive that I know exactly what you're trying to do. I'm not letting you leave this classroom without telling me what happened."

"You're so nosy" I grumbled, picking more violently at my food.

"I'm that too" He grinned. "So, are you going to tell me?"

"I hate you" I complained with a sad laugh. I guess there was no point in fighting him with this. Something told me that he wasn't the kind of man to lose easily. Well, I'd allow him this victory. I'd fight for the next one, though. "On the surface it went well." When I said it out loud, I realised that there was no way that it made sense. Even when what I was saying was so absurd, Dimitri still simply nodded at me as though he truly understood what I was getting at. Perhaps he actually did. Maybe I wasn't so crazy to him.

"She thinks it went okay. You let her believe it went okay, but something's still irking you about it, right?" He questioned. Wow, he did actually get it. For a moment, I simply sat there with my mouth wide open in shock.

"So, you do actually know what I'm talking about?" I asked, not quite trusting myself to believe it. This was too good to be true.

"Well, it's exactly like you said" He smiled, his hand reaching out and touching mine. It was only an act of kindness, but it left my heart racing and my chest heaving with heavy breaths. Why does he have to do this? "I'm very perceptive."

"Yeah, you are" I mumbled, my shocked mouth only being able to form those very simple words.

"Rose, I promise you that it will get better" Dimitri finally said, removing his hand from my own. Surprisingly, I found myself missing his touch. "You just need to give yourself time to get used to this. It's a big change that you've had to make. Soon you'll be able to separate the ones you love from the ones you hate and it'll all be easier then."

"Your words of wisdom are very helpful, Dimitri" I laughed, finally taking a proper bite from my food.

"I know what you need" Dimitri burst out with an excited grin. Oh God, I was almost scared to ask him. He took my silence as permission to go on. "You just need a trip to the town. Go for a night out. It'll make you feel so much better."

Well, that was nothing like what I was expecting to come from Dimitri. Although I was surprised, the idea did sound intriguing. A night out. I hadn't been on one for as long as I could remember. Perhaps it really would do me good.

"And who do you expect me to go on a night out with?" I asked. I was kind of lacking in the friend department at the moment.

"Mason, Eddie, Adrian and me" He answered. The first three names were what I was expecting, but I wasn't expecting Dimitri to tag along.

"You go on nights out with Mason, Eddie and Adrian?" I asked. Would this man ever cease to shock me? I wasn't convinced he would.

"Well, they're eighteen" He answered with a shrug. "It's not like I'm breaking the law."

"I'm sure some people would frown upon it" I went on. Wow, I used to walk on the wild side. Now I'm just as boring as most people on the planet. What happened to me? In that moment of wanting to be like my old self, I took a leap. "Sure, I'll go on a night out with you."

"Great, just don't tell my boss" He said. "She's one to frown upon those kinds of things.

"So, when are we going?" I asked, already feeling the excitement from him seep into me. This was going to be fun.

"Friday night?" He questioned. "I'll pick you up at eight?"

"Sure, I'll see you then" I said just as the bell rang and I turned to leave.

* * *

**Thursday September 6****th**** 2012, 3:30 pm, leaving school.**

Mason's face was a sight. If I had a camera with me, I would have taken a photo. As soon as he saw me lead Lissa, Christian and Mia straight to him, his jaw dropped before he began shouting that they weren't allowed anywhere near his car and there was no way he was sitting in the same room as them.

"Mason, calm the hell down" I hissed under my breath, all too aware of the stares from other students who were leaving school. "Don't you have homes to go to?" I growled as they stared.

"No, I will not calm down" He hissed straight back. "Rose, what the hell do you think you're doing inviting them too?"

"Look, we need to sort this out for good" I answered, planting my hands on my hips for defiance. "Please do this for me."

"I can't, Rose" He sighed sadly. Wow, I didn't know the hatred for each other ran this deep. At least Mia wanted to sort this out.

"If you do this for me, I can get us on a night out with Dimitri" I bargained with a hopeful smile. Please let this work! He bit his lip as he weighed up the options.

"Fine, they can come" He finally answered with a growl of annoyance at my scheming.

* * *

**Thursday September 6****th**** 2012, 4:30 pm, my flat.**

By the time we had gotten back to mine and ate it was getting on for the evening and we still hadn't mentioned anything about what happened and I wasn't convinced any of them was willing to make the first move.

"So, why did you fall out in the first place?" I finally asked awkwardly with a smile at each of them as though I was handling a pack of wild animals.

"Because Mason's a dick" Mia answered and Christian sniggered. Something told me that tonight wasn't going to be quite as productive as it should have been.

"I'm a dick!?" Mason shouted exasperated. "You three have no idea, do you?"

"Hey, let's play a game" I jumped in. "We keep our voices real low and talk nicely to each other. How about it?"

"You completely changed overnight" Mia growled. "It was like we didn't even know who you were anymore. Do you know how sad that is?"

"I didn't completely change overnight" Mason defended. "As soon as I started dating Avery, you guys changed with me. It was like I was just another face in the hallway."

It was then that I realised that Lissa was the only one who hadn't said anything the entire time we have been here. She didn't want to argue. Yes, she wanted to be friends with Mason again, but she didn't want to have to go about it this way. No one was listening to me anyway, so I took her hand and led her back into the kitchen.

"Thanks for that" She sighed as she sat at the table. "I don't understand what even happened. I just want things to go back to the way they were."

"We all want that, Lissa" I agreed. Hell, I'd give anything for things to go back to the way they were before. If I hadn't gone on that damn camping trip, my whole life could be completely different.

"Yeah, I guess we do" She sighed. "How long do you think that's going to last?"

"With Mia arguing her case? Probably the whole night" I joked. Thankfully, it worked and she finally laughed. At least things were starting to look up in that sense.

"We should probably go back in" She said. "Someone needs to be there to stop them from clawing each other's eyes out."

We walked back into the living room to find something I never thought I would see in my life. Mia was holding Mason tightly to her with tears in her eyes.

"I've missed you so much, Mase" She was saying with joy as Christian smiled warmly at Mason.

"So, I'm guessing you guys made up then" I commented, taking the seat next to Mason. What did I do to deserve to be blessed by such weird friend?

"You owe me a night out" Mason said once he got out of Mia's grip. Of course I do, Mason.

* * *

**Well, thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**Baby You're My Immortal**


	6. Chapter 6

Safe And Sound

* * *

**Thanks so much for the reviews. Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

**You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life – Winston Churchill**

* * *

Chapter Six

* * *

**Friday September 7****th**** 2012, 8:30 am, my flat.**

Reasons as to why I feel so happy and excited today:

1) Mason made up with Lissa, Christian and Mia.

2) Mason spent the night at mine. Don't worry, just as friends.

3) I had my night out with the boys and Dimitri tonight.

Yes, I know I'm slightly pathetic and sad. Well, I guess I'm very pathetic and sat now that I read through that list again and realise that those three things are really the only things that are making me pleased right now.

"Come on, Rose" Mason called from the bathroom where he stood brushing his teeth with my toothbrush. I'd get him back for that later. "You're going to make us late for school."

"Since when have you ever been bothered about being late for school?" I asked with a bemused expression. He simply stared at me with a look that told me that I was right. Reluctantly, I slung my bag over my shoulder and followed Mason to his car. "I really need to start saving up for a car."

"Just ask your dad for one" Mason laughed as we drove out of my street. "I'm sure he's got enough money to spare you some."

"Hey, I don't need my dad to buy me a car" I said defensively. As soon as I finished with therapy, I wanted to go it alone. Well, my dad paid for the flat, but I had no source of income at the time. As soon as I get a job, I'll start paying for everything myself.

"If I had a dad like that, I'd be scrounging everything I could off him" Mason joked, but I could tell that he wished he had the opportunity to exploit his dad like I did. You see, his parents didn't have much money. The reason he managed to buy a car was because he spent all his time stacking shelves in a hardware store.

"You're a bad person, Mase" I laughed, attempting to make light of the situation. I had never really been one interested in talking about my own life and my parents. It was a sore subject for me.

"Whatever you say, Rose" He sighed as we parked up as close to the main doors as possible.

"Good morning, Rose" Dimitri said once we got out of the car, his hands buried deeply in his pockets as he shielded away from the wind. "I'd dress warm tonight. The weather is definitely not on our side." Just hearing him talking about our night out was enough to get me way over excited. In a matter of hours, we would be going out with each other. Well, we'd be going out with each other along with Mason, Adrian and Eddie. I guess beggars can't be choosers.

"How the hell did you manage to swing this?" Mason asked in reference to the night out. Was he really that in awe of me managing to do this?

"Well, I didn't really swing it per say" I answered coyly. "He kind of offered. He thought it would help me get used to this school and help me adapt to the new lifestyle."

"He really did that?" Mason asked with a shocked expression on his face. "You know, you could just suck it up and deal with it." That was the best thing about Mason…he didn't sugar-coat anything

"I know I should do that, Mase" I sighed in agreement. "This shouldn't be that hard. Surely I should be glad that I'm getting some normalcy back in my life. For some reason, I just can't seem to think like that."

"Hey, it's fine" Mason assured, wrapping a friendly arm around my shoulder as we walked towards the picnic benches. "You'll get used to it in your time. Of course this is going to be hard for you."

"Aw, you always know the right thing to say" I chuckled, for once actually feeling better about myself.

"You know it, babe" He joked. Ah, who knew being a teenager would be so difficult?

* * *

**Friday September 7****th**** 2012, 1:00 pm, lunch time.**

The whole day had been completely uneventful. So uneventful it actually shocked me. Mia hadn't stirred trouble, Christian and Lissa hadn't bickered about their relationship and Avery hadn't even verbally bitch-slapped me. It seemed that because I was so excited about tonight, nothing interesting was going to happen to me today. On the whole, it sucked.

"Rose, wait up!" a voice called from behind me as I made my way down the corridor that led to Dimitri's classroom. When I turned, I found Mason jogging after me. Was he stalking me lately or what?

"What do you want?" I asked, continuing to walk, but also allowing him time to catch up.

"I'm coming with you to Dimitri's" He answered as though I should have already figured that out. Sometimes his infatuation with that teacher freaked me out a little.

"Why do you love him so much?" I asked before we got to the class. The look he gave me told me that the question I had asked was virtually unheard of. God, it's like this whole school has one big secret that they refuse to share with me.

"Was that a real question?" He asked with utter shock and confusion marring his boyish face. Sometimes I think it would be best if I learned to simply keep my mouth shut. It would probably avoid a lot of awkward conversations. "Dimitri is by far the best teacher we have in this place. He's more like a mate than a teacher. Everyone loves him."

"Well, I figured that out almost as soon as I set foot through the door." I joked, opening the door to his class and taking my usual seat at his desk. He was too immersed in his work to even notice that anyone had come into his classroom. "Dimitri, I'm here."

"Oh sorry, I've just been so busy" Dimitri sighed as he ran his hands through his hair in frustration. I had never seen him like this. He was always so laid back. Just seeing him managed to make me relax. "It's not like I'm going to be able to catch up on it tonight." Yet again the mention of tonight made my heart race. Why was I so excited for it? I'd been on nights out before. Surely this one wouldn't be any different like all of the rest.

"You'll forget what work is by the time we're through with you" Mason joked as he perched on one of the work tables with a goofy grin on his face. He was even more excited than I was and that was saying something.

"Let's hope that's true" Dimitri muttered. "I could use a good drink."

He barely helped me that lunch time. He continued on with his work and asked Mason to give me useful ideas on the design. Mason was more than happy to do this. Hell, he probably felt as though he had been given a highly important job to do. God, this was tedious. I, on the other hand, was disheartened. One of the only things that got me through the day was the prospect of spending time with him. His work somehow managed to get in the way of that. The very thought angered me. At least I would have his undivided attention tonight.

Throughout the whole session, he offered up small comments about how good Mason's ideas were, but never approached me. By the end of lunch time, I felt like a huffy little girl who hadn't been given what she wanted. What the hell was I turning into?

"I'll see you later, Rose" Was all he said when we left. I was surprised I managed to get that out of him. It was probably the longest sentence he had managed to string together today.

At least I'd have tonight to look forward to.

* * *

**Friday September 7****th**** 2012, 7:55 pm, my flat.**

Dimitri didn't strike me as the type of man to ever be late for anything. I was always late for everything. All because of this simple fact, I got dress at 6:00 pm to ensure that I would be ready on time. The last thing I wanted to do was keep Dimitri waiting. He also didn't strike me as the kind of man to enjoy being made a prat out of.

Well, when I say that I got dressed at 6:00 pm, I mean that I just started to choose my outfit which took a hell of a long time. Hey, is it such a crime that I want to look nice for Dimitri? Then there was hair and makeup. By the time I was completely ready, he was almost due to be knocking on my door.

The excitement was insane. My palms were sweating more than usual. I know, completely unattractive, but what can you do? As soon as the doorbell rang, I practically launched out of my seat and dove for it.

Wow. That was quite literally the only word I could think of to describe the way he looked right now. He wore a plain black shirt and black jeans. The fashion was ever so simplistic that it made me swoon at just the first sight of him.

"You look great" He said as he stepped aside to allow me room to get through. "You're really going all out for this aren't you?"

"Well, it's my first night out in a while" I explained, feeling rather awkward at the fact that I had just admitted that I hadn't had much of a social life for a while. "I've got to make it special."

"Well, you look beautiful" He complimented, making my cheeks flush in just an instant. He held his arm out for me and led me straight to his black classic Cadillac.

"Holy shit, you didn't tell me you have a car like this" I sighed in awe, hurrying straight towards to the body. My dad had been a total car freak; I'd grown up with them. It had always been my dream to own a Cadillac. At this moment, I was tempted to grab the keys from him and take off.

"Oh, you're obsessed with cars too?" Dimitri asked, his fingers sweeping over the car door in awe. This car was clearly his baby. If I did steal his keys, I had no doubt that he would chase me to the ends of the earth to get them back.

"I'm not really the obsessed one" I said, not taking my eyes off the car. "My dad is, so I know a lot about them. I love this beauty, though."

"If you're good tonight, I might let you drive it sometime" Dimitri grinned as he held open the door for me.

"You're kidding!?" I gasped, already imagining myself sitting behind the wheel. He simply winked as he slipped into his side of the car.

* * *

**Friday September 7****th**** 2012, 8:30 pm, at the bar.**

The music was so loud in here. It was a song I couldn't recognise…something techno that was easy to get into. For the first five minutes in this bar, I felt suffocated and my head was pounding. Hey, it had been a really long time since I had been here. I'm entitled to some time to get used to it again. As soon as I got over the initial explosion of noise, I could loosen up and enjoy myself.

It was weird to see Dimitri here. After seeing him in teacher mode almost all of the time, I couldn't imagine him at a bar where people were practically gyrating against him. The idea was completely absurd.

"Can I get you a drink?" He shouted in my ear. I nodded, not trusting my voice to be loud enough for him to hear me over the roar of everyone else. By the time I next turned around, Mason, Eddie and Adrian were gone. All three of them were chatting up girls already. Wow, they really didn't waste any time at all.

"Real smooth, Mase" I shouted, but I doubted that he could even hear me. Hell, he was in the zone right now. Even if he could hear me, it wouldn't make a difference.

"Tequila for the lady" A voice sighed from behind me. I turned, expecting it to be Dimitri, but found myself face to face with a man I knew rather well.

"Well, I didn't think I'd see you here, Andre" I chuckled, accepting my drink from him and leaning against the bar.

"Well, I had to come along and see Rose Hathaway" Andre explained, sipping whisky all the while. Man, that kid likes it strong. "Is it true you've befriended my little sister?"

For a moment, I was confused. How could I have been so stupid? It's not like Dragomir is a common name. "You're Lissa's brother?"

"Indeed I am, Rosemarie" He grinned. "So, you have been talking to her."

"Yeah, I have" I answered. "You've got a real nice sister. She's helped me out loads already."

"That's great and all, but make sure you don't drag her into any of your shit" Andre said abruptly, leaving his drink forgotten. Wow, I had been stupid to believe that this was just going to be a friendly conversation with Andre. Of course he would have an ulterior motive.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, incapable of stringing together a more complex sentence. Where was Dimitri? I could really use his help right now.

"You know what I'm talking about, Rose" Andre mumbled. Clearly he wasn't comfortable with having this conversation. Well, that makes two of us. "Look, you're a real nice girl and everything, but we all know that you attract trouble everywhere you go. All you need to do is make sure that Lissa doesn't get mixed up with any of that."

I couldn't argue with him there. I knew that all I ever really did was get myself and others into trouble. As annoyed as I may be at Andre for confronting me like this, I could see exactly where he was coming from. I would be acting exactly the same if I was him. Well, it's not like I could let him know that I agreed with him.

"Whatever, Andre" I grunted huffily, feeling the relief flooding into me as Dimitri returned to my side.

"Everything okay here?" He asked, his eyes narrowing at Andre as he snatched the glass from my hands and replaced it with a rum and coke. I guess it wasn't very hard to tell that I had just been in an incredibly uncomfortable position.

"Yeah, everything's fine" Andre answered for me, the grin showing me that he found Dimitri coming to my rescue highly amusing and probably rather pathetic. "I was just leaving. Remember what I said, Rose."

As soon as he was out of sight, I let out a deep breath that I didn't even realise I was holding. Was I really going to get Lissa into trouble if she spent time with me? That was the last thing I wanted for her.

"What did he say to you?" Dimitri asked as he continued to glare at the space where Andre had been standing. Wow, was it possible for him to hate Andre already? As much as I would have liked to believe that he hated Andre because he caused me pain, I couldn't think like that at the moment. There was much more pressing matters at hand.

"Oh nothing" I waved off. Well, it was pointless making Dimitri worry now. It wasn't like there was anything he could do about the annoyance that went by the name of Andre Dragomir. "He was an old friend of mine before everything went wrong. He's just looking out of his little sister. Don't worry, he's not a threat."

"You're lying to me, Rose" He commented. How was it possible to know me so well after only five days? Perhaps I was right…he could just be very perceptive. It seemed as though I was never going to be able to lie to him without realising exactly what I was doing. "I don't know why you don't want to tell me the truth, but I wish you would just tell me. Anyways, this night was supposed to be about you having fun, so I'm not going to bug you about it."

"Thanks, Dimitri" I sighed in relief. I wasn't ready to have some sort of showdown with him. Hell, it didn't feel like I would ever be ready to tell him about my past. That wasn't a bad thing, was it?

"Don't thank me yet, Rose" He said regretfully. "I've always got the rest of the school year to try and get the truth out of you. We've barely even started."

"Why am I not surprised?" I grumbled.

* * *

**Friday September 7****th**** 2012, 10:30 pm, still in the bar.**

Over the past two hours, the whole group had consumed a hell of a lot more drinks. Mason, Eddie, and Adrian were way past drunk and Dimitri and I were just tipsy. The atmosphere was more enjoyable now that Dimitri had let go what happened with Andre even if it was only going to be a little while before he started asking questions once more. It was still nice to be around a relaxed version of him that wasn't constantly trying to find out about what happened to me.

Even the music in here was growing on me. They played a few songs that I knew. I didn't exactly like them, but at least I was familiar with them. There were no more awkward encounters with old friends.

You could even go as far as to say that Dimitri was completely right in his reasoning as to why we were here. For most of the time that I had been here, I hadn't even thought about what happened to me or what was going to happen on Monday when I go back to school. It was like I could truly relax around these four men.

Well, that was until Mason completely ruined it for me when we were at the bar to get more drinks.

"You remember when I said you were pretty?" He slurred. Oh shit, I thought he was going to completely forget all about that. Well, apparently not.

"Yeah, I remember" I said delicately. What the hell was I supposed to do in a situation like this? It's not like I wanted to hurt his feelings, but it's not like I wanted any more of his awkward compliments either.

"I still think that, you know" He chuckled, pressing himself against me. Oh shit. No, no, no, no, no! Please Mason! Don't be so stupid. Oh God, this is going to end badly. He pressed his lips up against mine before I even had a chance to push him off of me. He was a bad kisser. It was probably just because he was drunk, but he had no control over his tongue. His grip on me was strong, but I managed to push him off of me with a hell of a lot of effort.

Just like that, I hurried out of the bar to get some fresh air. There weren't many people out here. Hell, most were probably drinking themselves into oblivion like my friends were.

The wall was more comfortable than it looked to sit on. In fact, I would be content to sit here all night if it wasn't for the bitter cold cutting into me. Next time I do this, I'll definitely wear a jacket.

"Rose, are you okay?" A soft voice asked. I didn't even have to turn around to see who it was. Of course it would be Dimitri.

"I'm fine" I sighed, wishing that I hadn't made a scene and ran out of there as though someone was shooting at me. "It just got a little hot in there for me."

"You're lying again" Dimitri noted as he sat down next to me on the wall, bumping his shoulder against mine. "I saw Mason kiss you."

"Did anybody else see that?" I asked, praying to God that the answer was no. I didn't want anyone else knowing what happened between us.

"No, it was only me" Dimitri answered. "Look, you can do better than Mason. If you didn't want to kiss him then that's completely fine. No one can expect you to do anything you don't want to."

"With the baggage I come with, I don't think I'm ever going to find a man that's right for me" I laughed weakly. Yep, that's the biggest problem I have. Trying to find a man is such an issue for me when really I should be trying to stop my mind from spilling over the edge again.

"You'll find someone" Dimitri whispered, his lips brushing against my cheek in a comforting peck. It was so surreal. That tiny kiss from Dimitri made me feel so much more than the full on lip action with Mason. "You're a beautiful young girl with a bright future ahead of her."

"Thank you, Dimitri" I sighed. Well, I could say one thing for definite: this had been the most eventful night out I had ever experienced.

* * *

**I apologise for taking so long to update for this! Anyway I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I'll try to get the next one up sooner!**

**Baby You're My Immortal**


	7. Chapter 7

Safe And Sound

* * *

**Thank you very much for all of the wonderful reviews! I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

**An ounce of emotion is equal to a tonne of facts – John Junor**

* * *

Chapter Seven

* * *

**Monday September 10****th**** 2012, 7:30 am, my flat.**

When I woke up on Monday, I had only two things on my mind:

1) What I would do when I saw Mason.

2) What I would do when I saw Dimitri.

I had ended on rather awkward terms with both of them on Friday night. It made it worse that I hadn't spoken to either of them since then. Hell, I didn't even know if Mason could remember what happened. He seemed very drunk to me. Well, I assumed he could remember. After all, he remembered saying that I was pretty and he was out of his mind with alcohol that night.

Everything was different when it came to Dimitri. He probably wouldn't even realise that what he did made things awkward for me. If he had kissed anyone normal then it would be fine. As it stands, I'm not normal. I overthink everything. Every time I see him now, I'll only be able to think about that brief touch. I know it's pathetic, but it's the truth at least. How was I supposed to get a good grade on my stupid souvenir project now?

Mason hadn't texted me since Friday. That only managed to add to my bundle of nerves. It's not like I could go to Lissa with these troubles. She could report it straight back to Andre who would be on me like a tonne of bricks for messing with his little sister's innocent head. I couldn't go to Christian because he would tell Lissa and then the aforementioned scenario would surely occur. I couldn't go to Mia because well…she's Mia. She's got a big mouth and she'd probably report back to Mason now that they had just made up. If I told Eddie, he would definitely tell Mason.

Well, there was only one thing for it. I would have to go to Adrian. He didn't seem like he was really tied to anyone here. If I asked him not to tell anyone everything that I was going to tell him, I would bet my life that he would respect my wishes. On the other hand, he may not care one bit about what I'm saying to him and just send me away. If that happens, I'll just have to confide in my Mum…although I don't think she'd really appreciate the fact that I'm having awkward encounters with my teacher.

"You sure know how to screw everything up, Rose" I muttered to myself as I sat up in bed and ran a hand through my matted hair. I guess it's time to face another day at that place.

* * *

**Monday September 10****th**** 2012, 9:00 am, in Form.**

So far, I hadn't seen Mason which must be a good sign, right? Oh, unless he's avoiding me because he can remember exactly what happened on Friday. What if he never wants to talk to me again? It had taken so long to get him to talk to me again. I don't want to go through all of that again just because he kissed me. This is exactly why all boys suck.

At least Dimitri hadn't said anything about what happened. As soon as I entered that door, it was exactly like I was any usual student. There was nothing different about me. Put it this way, I would be surprised if he was believing that Friday hadn't even happened. It was as though he was trying to act professional in the work place.

"Did you have a good weekend?" Lissa asked once she sat down. She was smiling as usual, her attire was completely immaculate. It was as though she had received the best night of sleep in the world. Is it just me who can't deal with waking up at seven every morning? God, I don't know how the others actually survive. Judging by the look on her face, she clearly had a good one.

"Why do you ask?" I questioned. _Really smooth, Rose. Why don't you just scream at the top of your lungs that you behaved like a complete slut on Friday. I'm sure that would really grab their attention._ "I mean, why do you ask about me? Come on, your life is way more interesting than mine. Let's hear about what you did over the weekend."

"Rose, are you sure you're okay?" Lissa asked, raising her eyebrows at me in that way that told me that she knew that I was feeding her some absolute rubbish. Damn, she was getting to know me. I was hoping that that wouldn't happen to us.

"Yeah, I'm fine" I lied with a shrug of the shoulders. Yep Lissa, this is just any normal day. Please just believe me. "I'm just tired, you know me."

"No, I don't know you" Lissa sighed with a hint of frustration. Oh no, I had never seen her not being calm. Had I been annoying her since she met me? "Look, we've all been trying to include you in everything that we're doing, but it's like you don't want to get close to us. You're so stuck in your old life with Mason."

"So, you want me to open up to you more?" I asked, ensuring that I had this whole situation completely mapped out. Well, I didn't want to go making any mistakes now did I?

"Yeah, if it's not too much trouble" Lissa smiled. Oh, does she really think I'm going to start telling her some pathetic stories about when I was kid? Does she think that's what I'm going to open up about?

"Don't say I didn't warn you" I muttered. This wasn't going to be a good idea. I'd only been here a week and I was almost revealing everything that I had tried to hide for so long. "I spoke to your brother on Friday."

"You spoke to Andre?" Lissa asked, her face already morphing into a smile. She thought a lot of her brother. That much was clear right from the beginning of this conversation. Could I really ruin her perfect vision of her brother just because I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning? That sure as hell wouldn't be the right thing to do. If I wanted to make friends here, I'd have to stop being so selfish.

"Yeah, I did" I smiled. "He's a real nice guy. I spoke to him a few times when he was in high school. Why didn't you tell me he was your brother? He's such a sweetheart."

"Aw, well that's Andre for you" She explained, that sickening smile never leaving. "Well, I never thought you'd get the chance to meet him. Oh, you're the perfect friend for him. We should all do something together! Andre would love it."

"Oh yeah, that's a great idea" I lied. If it kept Lissa from finding out the truth then I would be able to sit through a meal or something similar with Andre for a couple of hours. "We'll have to do that some time."

"I'll tell him about it tonight" She grinned. "Oh, I'm sure he'll love the idea." What the hell was I getting myself into!?

* * *

**Monday September 10****th**** 2012, 11:00 am, Break time.**

"Are you avoiding me or something?" I interrogated once I finally managed to catch up with Mason. This wasn't really the kind of the approach that I was hoping for, but I was willing to try anything at this time to get him to talk to me.

I could tell straight away that he was uncomfortable with talking to me. I guess he definitely could remember what happened that night. Was he annoyed at me for pushing him away? I had no clue how to get any more answered without outright confronting him about it. Even so, the idea didn't sound too appealing.

"I haven't been avoiding you" He answered. I knew then that he was perfectly intent on just leaving it like that. Well, I wasn't. He was going to have it out with me right now or so help me I would never speak to him again.

"You're lying" I noted, crossing my arms over my chest in an aggressive manner. No more of this defensive crap I had been using since I came back here. "Look, if this is about Friday…"

"What makes you think it would be about Friday?" He interrupted with a hard glare. Well, that answered my question. It was definitely about Friday if he was going to think it was acceptable to talk to me like that.

"It's obvious isn't it?" I questioned. Was he really going to keep trying to avoid the question like a child? "Look, I'm sorry that I pushed you away. I know this must be hard for you…"

"Not everything is about you, Rose" He snapped, before spinning on his heel and stalking away as though the conversation with me had disgusted him. For a moment, I stood alone with a stunned expression marked clearly on my face. Did that just happen? I could barely believe it myself and I had actually been there.

"Do you want to talk?" An unfamiliar voice asked. When I turned, I found Adrian standing behind me with a small smile on his face that lit up his eyes like Christmas. At that moment, I was surprised he didn't have a flock of girls behind him. After all, he was a very charming and good-looking man.

"I thought you'd never ask" I mumbled as he led me away to a more private part of the courtyard.

"I heard about what happened on Friday" He sighed as though this had been an argument that had been going on for weeks that he was getting rather sick of right now. Perhaps Mason had been chewing his ear off about it.

"Did Mason tell you?" I asked, his expression answering my question immediately. "What version of the story did he give you."

"He kissed you. You pushed him away. It hurt his feelings" Adrian answered simply with a shrug. I guess he's never really involved with these kinds of things. Something told me he wasn't much of a committed man.

"Oh, I guess he gave you the right version of the story then" I said awkwardly, already feeling guilty for accusing him of lying. Perhaps I was just making this more dramatic than it really was.

"Yeah." Adrian commented. He was a man of few words…yet that simple word was enough to open the floodgates and had me spilling almost everything. Well, everything apart from the reason as to why I was back here and what had stopped me in the first place.

"I just don't know what's happening to me right now" I complained. "I've just started coming back to school. It's been a long time since I was in an environment like this. Come on, I need to walk before I can run. You understand me, right? Mason's more like a big brother to me and now he's getting angry at me just because I don't feel the same way as him. That's completely unfair! I can't force myself to like him in that way. Even if I did think that we could have a chance together, I couldn't go ahead with it because I like Dimitri and I know exactly what you're going to say! He's a teacher and he's too old for me and it will never happen. I know that, but I'm a teenage girl. Everyone is thinking the exact same thing about him as I am. I just don't want to hurt Mason. Apparently that doesn't matter, though because he's already hurt because I rejected him. I just can't win!"

"Woah, Rose" Adrian laughed as I took heavy breaths to calm myself down. "You're rambling at me now."

"Sorry, it's just such a stressful situation" I grumbled. "You should have heard the things that Andre was saying to me."

"Andre Dragomir?" He asked.

"The one and only" I spat with venom. Why was I letting myself get so bothered by what he thinks of me? Surely it shouldn't matter that he thinks I'm going to ruin his sister. "He told me that I can't mix with Lissa too much in case I taint her. That was pretty much the gist of it anyway."

"He did not!?" Adrian gasped in shock. At that moment, I finally felt like maybe I wasn't just overthinking everything. Maybe it's true that I'm just getting victimised by pretty much everyone. Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration.

"Oh, he did" I mumbled, tangling my fingers with each other as I felt tears prick my eyes. _Don't you dare cry over someone like Andre Dragomir, Rose!_ "Am I really that much of a screw up?"

"Rose, you're not a screw up at all" Adrian whispered, pulling me straight into a hug before I even had a chance to push him away. As soon as I was engulfed in his arms, I found that I didn't want to reject him. One hug from Adrian felt like enough to calm me down completely. "You're a beautiful girl who has so much potential. So what if you made one mistake with Mason? He'll get over it eventually…and if he doesn't? He's not worth your time. Oh, and you would so have a chance with Dimitri if he wasn't a teacher."

I let out a snort. Seriously. It was a full on snort. Possibly the most unattractive thing a girl could do in a situation like this and I did it. And I didn't even care because I don't think Adrian cared either way. At least he had managed to make me feel better.

"You're amazing, Adrian" I chuckled as the bell rang to tell us to get to our next lessons.

"I know I am" He agreed with a wink as I stepped out of his arms. "I'll see you later, Rose."

* * *

**Monday September 10****th****, 12:30 pm, Maths.**

It felt like it had been ages since I was last in this room. Well, so much had happened since I was last here. Was my life always going to be so full of drama? I could sincerely say that I hoped it wouldn't.

"What's the deal with you and Mason?" Mia asked finally. I had been waiting for this. As soon as she sat down when she first came in, I could tell that there was something wrong with her. She wasn't acting how she usually did with me. Hell, she wasn't even acting fun and that was saying something when it was with her. Was she annoyed at me too for what happened? Did Mason tell her?

"I don't know what you're talking about" I lied. Oh, I knew only too well what she was talking about.

"Oh come off it, Rose" She snapped. Yes, Mason had definitely told her what had happened and she was definitely annoyed at me for it. "Mason came round to mine on Saturday. He had a very interesting story to tell me about a bar and some rejection on your part."

"Well, what was I supposed to do Mia?" I asked. She was being so stupid! Would she rather that I let it go further and then hurt him even more when it got more serious?

She had no answer to my question. Perhaps she was finally beginning to see sense. Or maybe she was realising that she had no comeback for what I had said and she was just too ashamed to admit it.

"Why don't you date him?" I questioned. "After all, it's clear that you love him so much." Thank God that the bell rang at that moment. I may have had my stroke of good comebacks, but I had a feeling that it wasn't going to last very long. She looked like she had a lot of things on her mind that she wanted to voice with me. I didn't want to stick around to hear them. So, naturally I snatched my bag up and hurried out of the room.

"What the hell do you mean by that?" She called after me, but I was too far gone to take any notice of it. Well, I was on a roll today with losing friends. Perhaps Andre was right…I do attract trouble everywhere I go.

* * *

**Monday September 10****th**** 2012, 1:10 pm, lunch time.**

Lunch couldn't come fast enough. That was definitely not an exaggeration either. As awkward as I may find being in Dimitri's company at the moment, I would take it over another argument with Mason.

"What's the matter with you?" Dimitri asked as soon as I stormed into his room and slammed the door behind me. I didn't realise how angry I felt until that moment. I felt ready to bring a roof down.

"I got into an argument with Mason and Mia's taken his side" I grumbled as I thumped down into my side like a huffy teenager. In my defence, I am a huffy teenager.

"Is this about the whole kissing thing?" He asked. Well done, Dimitri. It's not like there's anything else stupid I've done lately.

"Yeah, it is" I answered sadly. "He practically called me selfish!"

"Look, Rose" Dimitri began. "If he's not willing to settle for just being your friend then fuck him. Don't tell anyone I said that."

Perhaps Dimitri had a point. After all, that made two people who had said the exact same thing to me. Oh, this was turning out to be a very eventful Monday.

* * *

**Thank you everyone for reading this chapter. It really means a lot! Anyway, I hope you've all enjoyed this chapter!**

**Baby You're My Immortal**


	8. Chapter 8

Safe And Sound

* * *

**Thank you so much to anyone who reviewed on the previous chapter! I'm so sorry for not updating quicker. I've just managed to get through seven exams, but now I'm on study leave and only have three left, so I should be able to get a lot more updates in! Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

**Sooner or later we must all grow up. No-one knows this better than the young – Mary Alice Young**

* * *

Chapter Eight

* * *

**Tuesday September 11****th**** 2012, 9:00 am, Form**

I had a huge crush on Dimitri. It was no longer a doubt that was niggling away at the back of my mind. No, I longed for it to be just that again. That was a much easier feeling to deal with. This was a full blown crush. The type that made me want to start sketching his name on my notepad and write our initials in pretty, pink hearts. You know, the kind of crush that knocks me sick? The kind of crush that is so horrendously cheesy and pathetic that others scoff at. The kind of crush that feels like it's going to consume you if you don't do anything about it.

That was the kind of crush that was the last thing I was ever expecting when I came to this school. Honestly I didn't think this would ever happen to me. Certainly not when I'm in the position I'm in. When you get sent back to school after a year of therapy and the uncertainty of your being a murderer, funnily enough, the last thing you think about is boys. Well, at least that's what I thought before I met Dimitri. As soon as I met him, any logic went out of the window.

"What on Earth has gotten into you?" Lissa finally asked. Well, I thought it was finally. Apparently she'd been asking me for about five minutes. Who would have thought? I really need to get these stupid thoughts of Dimitri out of my head.

"Nothing's gotten into me" I lied with a completely fake smile. She may not have known me for that long, but it was pretty obvious that my answer was complete crap. "Oh, it's nothing important."

"Is it just about Mason?" Lissa asked. Well, it seemed that news travelled fast around here. Mia was probably the cause of the gossip. She probably couldn't wait to stick her claws in and turn everyone against me. Hmm, maybe she was in cahoots with Avery.

Things to discuss with my therapist the next time I see her:

1) I'm paranoid that people at school are turning against me.

2) I think my friends are in cahoots with my enemies.

3) I have a major crush on my teacher that's making me zone in and out of every conversation I have.

"Yeah, of course it's about Mason" I lied once more. Okay, I should probably add that I'm becoming a compulsive liar on that list. Seriously, they're just spilling out. Anything that comes out of my mouth lately is probably a lie.

"Oh, I wouldn't let it get to you" She waved off with a smile that would seem fake on anyone else. Yes, it's true. Lissa was just _that _nice to everyone. Perhaps I should start trying to do that. It may prevent me from making more enemies because, let's face it, I'm growing myself quite an extensive list of people who hate me. "Mason will get over that once he finally manages to get over himself."

"_If _he manages to get over himself" I corrected with a sad sigh. He used to act like this back in the day…always wanted to be on top. Now that he had finally made it, he was more up his own arse than usual. "So, did you hear about Mia?"

"Oh, everyone heard about Mia" Lissa muttered with a darkness I didn't know she could possess. For a moment, she had me on edge. She was scary when she was angry.

**Note to self: **Never piss off Lissa.

"Was it really that bad?" I asked with a wince. Why was I screwing everything up for myself? I'd barely been in this school for five minutes.

"What you said to her wasn't bad at all" Lissa assured as she patted my arm in comfort. Oddly enough, it actually worked. "Mia just likes to exaggerate."

"So, in other words, most people at school are turning against me because Mia is making me out to be the biggest bitch here?" I questioned. Okay, I can cross off number one on my list. It's not paranoia. It's really happening.

"Precisely" Lissa answered, almost as though she was trying to turn this onto a positive slant. "You're clever. You caught on really fast."

"Yes, because _that's_ making this all better" I said sarcastically, regretting it as soon as it came out of my mouth. Lissa didn't deserve my backlash of anger. Hell, no one apart from Avery, Mia and Mason deserved my backlash of anger.

"I'm sorry this is happening" Lissa pouted as she resonated a resigned sigh. At least it wasn't only me who was feeling the pressure of school.

"Yeah, I am too" I mumbled as my fingers knotted together in agitation.

"Come on, what's got you girls down?" A familiar voice asked. It sent my heart racing and my palms began to sweat. My face heated up and my knees were practically trembling. It didn't take a genius to figure out who the voice belonged to.

"Nothing much" Lissa answered after I stayed silent because no words could come to my mouth. After all, it was too dry. "Rose is just having some boy problems."

"Is this about Mason?" Dimitri asked, his voice lowering and aiming just at me. It looked as though I was going to have to start answering for myself now.

"Yes" Was all I said.

"I thought you were okay with what was happening with him" Dimitri noted, leaning over the table to get closer to me. God, what was he doing this to me? His aftershave was so intoxicating I could barely think of a reply.

"I lied" Yes, I was completely incapable of coming up with a polysyllabic word. I know, you don't have to remind me. I'm a complete and utter moron.

"Don't lie to me again" He warned with a waggle of his finger and a cheeky grin that made my heart race even faster. Ha! As if that was even possible right now. "Don't let him get to you!"

"Okay" I answered. Finally! A two syllable word.

"You're not going to let it go, are you?" He questioned, resting his hands on his hips in that sexy way of his.

"No" I replied. Oh brilliant, back to one syllable words.

"What's wrong with you today?" He asked, beginning to lose his patience with me. I didn't blame him. If I was in his position, I'd be losing my rag with myself too.

"What do you mean?" I asked. Okay, at least I was finally able to strong together a sentence. It was hardly an interesting one, but at least it was one.

"You're barely talking to me today" He answered. He sounded almost hurt by my near silence. Well, now I just felt guilty.

"Ah, I'm just not really feeling it today" I answered vaguely with a shrug of my shoulders. How was I supposed to explain that I was too scared to talk to him in case I said something that I shouldn't about my stupid crush? "I know what would make me feel better."

"And what would that be?" Dimitri asked with his usual smirk. At least things weren't awkward between us anymore.

"You let me drive your car because I was good at the bar" I answered, fixing him with my own smirk that didn't seem half as smouldering as his did.

"You think you were good at the bar?" Dimitri laughed. "Getting drunk – bad. Getting into an argument with Andre – also bad. Kissing Mason – very bad."

"Well, that's just mean" I commented with a pout that probably looked horrifically unattractive because, let's face it, it's me.

"You're right. It was mean" Dimitri agreed. "And because it was so mean, I'm going to let you drive my car. I'll come round your place tonight."

"I'll see you then" I smiled as the bell rang and I followed Lissa out of the classroom.

"Did you mention Andre to Mr Belikov?" Lissa asked as confusion swept over her face.

"No, who's Andre?" I lied as we walked down the stairs towards my next lesson.

"Andre's my brother" She answered as some of the confusion seeped away. "I guess I must have heard wrong."

"Yeah, you must've" I agreed, feeling bad already for lying to her.

* * *

**Tuesday September 11****th**** 2012, 11:00 am, in the yard.**

In just a matter of hours, I was going to be able to drive Dimitri's car. Surely the idea of spending more time with him should be exciting me rather than putting me on edge. Yet here I was…completely terrified of what was going to happen tonight. Not that anything was going to happen. Dimitri's my teacher. He knows the boundary and he certainly wouldn't cross the line when it came to me and his job.

"There's something wrong with you today" Christian noted as we sat at the picnic benches and I picked at my food. "I don't understand what it could be, but you're sure as hell not acting the way you normally do"

"Yeah well, we can't be cheerful all the time" I sighed unhappily, finally giving in on eating and throwing my cookie in the bin. "I'm sure you haven't been smiling your whole life."

"Jesus, I'm sorry I even spoke" Christian laughed as he rolled his eyes at me. Wow, was I really bringing down the mood of everyone here? It certainly seemed that way. It just didn't seem as fun being here when Mia and Mason weren't talking to me.

Speak of the devil. Across the yard, they stood close to each other and muttered furiously. Hmm, they were probably discussing how they were going to make the rest of the school hate me too. Yes, I definitely need to get back in touch with my therapist.

"Don't even bother wasting your time with those two" Adrian grumbled as he slipped into the seat beside me, resting his head on his hands. Something told me he wasn't much of a morning person. "Mason will get over himself soon enough. Just give him some time. Seeing you again has been quite a shock for him. I don't think he really knows how to act."

"That's like the most insightful thing I've ever heard you say" I chuckled with a disbelieving shake of my head.

"Hey, I can be smart at times" Adrian defended, holding his hand over his heart as he grinned goofily at me. "I just choose not to be."

"Whatever you say, Ade" Christian said sarcastically.

"Don't call me that" Adrian replied ever so seriously.

"Aw, I love you guys" I commented, wrapping a friendly arm around Adrian's shoulder. At least I was finally happy to be at school today. Now all I need to do is get through tonight without letting Dimitri know that I have a huge crush on him. That should be quite easy, right? Oh no. This was going to go all wrong. I could already feel it.

* * *

**I apologise for this chapter being shorter than the others! Don't worry, I'll definitely be making up for that in the next chapter! So much is going to happen! Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I'll try to get the next update in faster than this one. I don't think that'll be much of a problem. After all, I've got like nothing to do for four months ;)**

**Baby You're My Immortal**


	9. Chapter 9

Safe And Sound

* * *

**Thank you so much to anyone who read and reviewed on the previous chapter! It really means a lot to me that you take your time to review. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this update!**

* * *

**Our dead are never dead to us, until we have forgotten them – George Eliot**

* * *

Chapter Nine

* * *

**Tuesday September 11****th**** 2012, 9:00 pm, home.**

When was Dimitri going to get here? It wasn't like I could just ring him up and ask him. I didn't even know his phone number. This was absolute torture and NO I AM NOT EXAGGERATING! This is TORTURE! I have just uncovered this huge crush that I have on him, he tells me he'll come round mine and then he doesn't tell me what time, so I'm sat around my flat listening for the doorbell.

Perhaps he's forgotten. Surely he wouldn't have done that. Is it possible that he only said he would drop by mine to get me out of my bad mood? Oh, this is why he should have told me what time he was coming. It would have saved me asking myself ridiculous questions repeatedly to the point where it felt as though my head was going to explode.

Is this even a good idea? If anyone found out that Dimitri had been to my flat twice in a matter of days, there would be a number of complaints made to the school about him. Well, I know he doesn't have some sort of ulterior motive, but most people wouldn't understand. No, they would immediately see the bad in him…accuse him of taking advantage of a student. God, could he go to prison for this?

Oh, Dimitri! Please just show up so I can stop thinking of all the ways this whole thing could go wrong. Yep, I'm conjuring up prison sentences in my head now. Is this was going insane is like?

* * *

**Tuesday September 11****th**** 2012, 9:30 pm, still home.**

It's official! He has completely forgotten that I exist. Nobody makes a person wait this long to drive a goddamn car. Next time I see him, I am so putting a curse on him or something equally ridiculous. Yes, he's definitely going to hell for doing this to me. It's the only punishment that I see fit after the way he has just treated me today.

Well, that's just brilliant. I'm turning into a huffy bitch now because of him. I hope he's happy for making me turn into the kind of girl that I hate!

_Ding!_

Did I put something in the microwave? Did I change my ringtone? Holy shit, is that the noise that I think it is?

As if on cue, my palms began to sweat giant waterfalls. Yeah…that's right. I'm just that attractive.

I launched straight towards the door and yanked it open before I could even think twice…and because I'm just that lucky, I almost ended up landing flat on my face.

"Oh, are you okay?" Dimitri asked, holding out is hands in case I attempted another face plant into the stone steps. Yes, all the while he was holding back a grin. Is it really so amusing to see someone almost fall over? Apparently it is.

"Yeah, I'm fine" I answered casually with a flick of my wrist. Yep, playing it cool. "Just lost my footing is all."

"Yeah, I kinda figured that when you nearly landed on your ass." Dimitri smirked.

"Are we in America now?" I snapped, pushing him out of the flat, following him out into the cold air as I shrugged a jacket on over my shirt. "Gimme your car keys."

"No need to get yourself in a fettle, hun" Dimitri grinned once more. He was really enjoying this, wasn't here? Well, it's nice to know that he can have a barrel of laughs at my expense.

"I'm not in a fettle" I defended. Outstretching my hand, I demanded, "Car keys."

"Fine, you can have the flaming car keys" Dimitri grumbled as he fished them out of his back pocket. "Keep your hair on."

"Well, some people tend to be impatient when others take ages to get here" I pointed out, knowing it was probably a bad idea, but I just had to know what it was that had been keeping him. I know, I know. You don't have to tell me. I'm being petty and it will probably come back to bite me in the bum. Oh well, I'll deal with that later.

"Now how did I know you were going to bring that up?" Dimitri asked as he led me to where his car was parked at the side of the road just opposite my flat.

"You said yourself that you were perceptive" I noted with a smug smirk of my own. I'm going to ensure that I'm the one to win this one.

"Point dually noted" Dimitri finally replied as he opened the door for me and I slipped inside. This car was made for me. "I just had a tonne of marking to do, but not I'm all yours." Hmm, now there are plenty of things we could do now that you're all mine. Rosemarie Hathaway, stop with the bad thoughts and focus on driving.

"I don't want you" I lied as I wound the window down. "I want your car." With that said, I turned the keys and drove down the street, leaving Dimitri standing there with his mouth hanging wide open. I guess it's all safe to say now that I'm the one who won.

The car was simply astounding. It wasn't fair. Why did Dimitri get to drive this to school every day? I was just as deserving of a car like this. I guess I finally know what my next purchase is going to be. I need a car exactly like this.

It didn't take long for me to reach the top of the street where the outskirts of a country park stood. It had always freaked me out. It reminded me ever so much of the woods where we had our camping trip that ended in a massacre. My therapist had told me that it wasn't a good idea to live here. She said something about how it would always bring back bad memories. She said I'd never recover fully if there was a constant reminder of what happened on my doorstep.

Little did she know that when I got back to school, there was going to be constant reminders of what happened everywhere I turned. All because of that, I disagreed with what she said. I was going to have to face what happened sooner or later, so I moved in. Ever since then, I've been regretting it. Every time I'm near it, I either want to cry or scream in panic. It's like I can't even win.

A slam on the bonnet snapped me straight out of my thoughts. It was almost exactly like that night. A scraggly man came out of the trees, his eyes trained on me like a predator stalking prey. Without thinking, I let out a scream and he scattered. Yes, probably just a drunk man trying to find his way home. I can see that now, but at the time I was terrified for my life.

Then the tears started as Dimitri pulled me out of the car as though he was dealing with a helpless kitten. Oh God, what on Earth am I doing? He probably thinks I've gone mental on him. Hmm, perhaps I have gone mental. Yes, a visit to the therapist has been long overdue.

"Roza, are you okay?" His frantic voice asked as he brushed the hair away from my face, crouching down so that he was eye level with me as he tried to search for any indication of what was wrong with me. All he wanted was answers. It sucked that that was the one thing I couldn't give him.

I couldn't answer him, I just continued breathing deeply as tears ran freely from my eyes. Yes, I was making a very big fool out of myself right now. Someone should slap me in the face for the scene I was making right in the middle of the street.

"Roza, you need to explain what happened to you" Dimitri pointed out as he pulled me into his chest as an act of comfort. "I can't help you if I don't know what's wrong with you."

"I can't" I managed to choke out as my arms wrapped weakly around his waist. "Can't tell you."

"Why?" He asked, his hand holding my head firmly as he patted my back awkwardly. How could he seem so uncomfortable yet natural with me when I was crying? It was like he was a walking oxymoron.

"You'll run" I muttered darkly. Yes, that was the biggest problem with me. If I tell anyone what really happened that night, they'll leave. There's no doubt about it. No one in their right mind would try to help a girl so far gone into craziness. It just doesn't happen. Maybe I should find myself a nice do-gooder and settle down with him.

"I would never run" Dimitri promised, although I couldn't believe him. "I would never leave you if you just asked for my help. Don't you know that?"

"You would" I sighed, stepping out of his arms, finally stopping the tears. "If my own mother knew the truth, she'd fucking run and I'd probably never see her again. You don't know what it's like to be in bad business."

"Then just tell me" He urged, attempting to pull me into another hug, but I refused. I didn't want to be led into a false sense of security.

"I can't" I whispered. "I want to. I really want to. Perhaps someday I will. Just not right now. You shouldn't be burdened with my troubles. You're too good for something like that."

Without warning, his lips crashed down onto mine. Yes, I know exactly what you're all thinking because the same thoughts were running through my head. Where on Earth did that come from? It was quite possibly the most unexpected thing that I wouldn't have thought would happen in one million years.

I didn't kiss back.

Paralysed was the only word I could think of to describe my state as his lips were against mine. He barely moved. Just having his lips there was enough. Just touching mine with his own was enough. There was no touching apart from our lips. It was the briefest of touches that somehow made me feel as though I was on fire.

Oh, I wanted to kiss back, but I couldn't find the will to move. So I just left him to it as I wondered what was happening. My mind was rather slow to follow all of this. My head was just swimming with strings of words that made no sense to me.

He pulled back as quickly as his lips caressed my own. His eyes met mine and nothing was said. Hell, what could either of us say to make sense of this situation? He simply pushed past me, clambered back into his car and drove up the street without even looking back as I stared on in shock and disappointment. How could it have all turned so cold and bitter in such a short amount of time? Damn that drunk man! He had ruined everything.

See? Everyone runs away from me one way or the other. He'll be lucky if he ever gets my secret out of me now.

* * *

**Yes, you all have permission to kill me right now if you want to. I suck at life for ending it like that and I know you probably all hate me! Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. At least I managed to get it up a lot quicker than the previous one. Thank you ever so much for reading!**

**Baby You're My Immortal**


	10. Chapter 10

Safe And Sound

* * *

**Thank you very much to the people who read and reviewed on the previous chapter even though I left it on such a bad note ;) Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

**If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts – Albert Einstein**

* * *

Chapter Ten

* * *

**Wednesday September 12****th**** 2012, 8:30 am, the yard.**

A list of reasons explaining why I am dreading entering that awful building:

1) Mason would be there.

2) Mia would be there.

3) Adrian may try to give me more advice which is rather scary.

4) People are still talking about me.

5) Eddie doesn't even make eye-contact with me anymore because he's too scared of what Mason's going to think.

6) I didn't even know what to do when I saw Dimitri.

Number 6 on my list could barely even be explained. It was all too confusing to me too. There was so many things wrong with what happened last night that I didn't know where to begin.

Even though I wished this day would end immediately, it still continued on. It's nice to know how badly the world can treat you sometimes.

"Hey, you okay?" A soft voice asked as I took my usual seat at the picnic tables. It was the first time I had ever seen Christian without Lissa being by his side. It was as though he was missing half of his body.

"Yeah, I'm fine" I sighed, clearly not judging by the tone of my voice. It was clear then that I would make the worst liar ever. The look Christian gave me told me as much.

"Can we skip the lying part of this conversation, so you can just tell me what's wrong and I can try to help you?" Christian said bluntly, shooting me a look that told me he wasn't in the mood to take any of my crap today. There seemed to be something wrong with him too. I'd have to ask just as soon as he was done grilling me.

"Wow, you don't waste any time do you?" I joked, tapping the table annoyingly as I thought of any way that I could change the subject.

"No, but I can tell that you do" Christian accused with a look that I could only describe as a glare. Yes, there was definitely something wrong with him too. "So are you going to tell me or not?"

"No, probably not" I answered with a shake of my head as assurance. There was no way he was finding out what happened. That sort of information could easily fall into the wrong hands and then that would mean the end of my time at this school.

Hey, that may not be that bad an idea. If I did that, it would mean I could leave school with a reasonable excuse and then never have to face Dimitri again. Now does that sound like a plan or what!? Fine I know it was completely unrealistic.

"Well, I hope you enjoy the feeling of bottling it all up" Christian stated, showing absolutely no human emotion whatsoever. Wow, whatever happened must have really angered him. "You have no idea what something like that can do to you. Keeping silent will tear you apart. Don't say I didn't warn you."

"Thanks for your concern and everything, but I assure you it's not needed" I pressed on. It's not that I wanted to be mean to him or anything. I just didn't want him getting too close to the truth. If a little pushiness was what it took to keep that in check then I was all for it.

"Okay, I know when my help isn't wanted" Christian assured, holding his hands up in surrender. For the first time since I sat down, I was able to relax around him.

"So, what's up with you?" I asked with genuine concern. "You seem pretty pissed."

"Oh, so it's okay for you to ask me what's wrong, but I can't ask you?" Christian questioned.

"Yeah, pretty much" I joked with a friendly shoulder bump. It was surreal how comfortable I felt with Christian already. He was almost like the male version of me.

"You're wild" Christian noted before turning to me with a serious stare. "Lissa and I got into a fight about Mia and Mason."

It sucked that they had managed to get into an argument over something that was my fault to begin with. It seemed everyone was getting themselves into bad situations because of me. Christian and Lissa weren't talking because of me. Mason had turned mean. Eddie didn't know what to do with his life. Mia had turned bitchy. The worst one was that Dimitri could be facing losing his job because of something stupid that happened between us.

It would have been a much better idea for me to just stay at home and not bother coming back here. I'm just destroying other people's lives.

"What happened?" I asked, trying to push the guilt in my head away for two minutes, so I could learn more about this strange occurrence.

"She thinks she can bring them back to our group again and make everything okay, but I don't think she should even bother trying. They made their decision. If they want to go off and hate people in our group then that's their choice, but they can't expect to be allowed to pick and choose who they're friends with" Christian explain, his eyes already heating up in anger. All I could get from that was that Christian believed that I was part of his group. That small thing was enough to make me feel so elated that I could practically float mid-air. "As soon as I told Lissa this, she got all defensive and angry, so now we're not talking."

"Lissa will snap out of it" I assured even though I had no clue what I was talking about. I had only known her a little over a week. How was I supposed to know her behavioural patterns? I was just going on guess work here. She seemed like quite a mellow person and it was clear that she cared more about Christian than her own life. She wouldn't throw that away over a petty argument over Mia and Mason, would she? "She'll realise what's happening and she'll come straight back to you. Just make her feel loved. Just try and understand where she's coming from. She just wants to help."

"I know she does" Christian sighed in frustration. "It's one of the most annoying yet lovable things about her. She's always looking for someone to help. It's in her nature. It's like it was coded into her DNA. Goddamn it's a dominant allele."

"Okay, when you start bringing the sciency shit into it…it stops being romantic" I reminded. Was everyone this clever at this school? "Leave the alleles and DNA out of it."

"Thanks for listening, Rose" Christian finally said after long moments of silence that was more than just awkward for the both of us. Thankfully the bell rang and I didn't have to face any more awkward conversations with people. That flaming bell also meant that I had to face Dimitri.

Time to die.

* * *

**Wednesday September 12****th****, 9:00 am, Form**

"Rose. Outside. Now" Dimitri barked as soon as he flung the classroom door open. Well, he doesn't skip a beat now does he? This is so not going to go well. He's probably going to rip my head off as soon as the door's closed. With the way he's been acting lately, I wouldn't be surprised.

"What do you want?" I asked as soon as the door was closed. I wasn't entirely sure if acting casual was the best way to go with this, but it wasn't as if I had any other ideas to fall back on. I just had to put on a brave face and fight through this one. It couldn't be that bad, could it? Yes, a voice in my head told me that this could be very bad.

"You know exactly what I want" Dimitri muttered under his breath. "We need to talk about last night." Just like that, I got a surge of confidence. He was practically trying to blame me for what happened. Hell, I didn't even kiss him back. There was no way in hell that he was going to put any of this on my doorstep.

"There's nothing to talk about" I hissed. "You came onto me. You kissed me. It was not the other way round. As far as I'm concerned, this is your fault. I'm not going to tell anybody, so you can stop worrying about that. I just want to forget that it even happened." As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I whirled around to storm away, but his hand caught my wrist and pulled me back. "Oh come on, you didn't have to ruin my dramatic exit."

"I don't want to forget that it happened" Dimitri whispered viciously, completely ignoring anything that I had just said. It's great knowing that people listen to you. Getting a real feeling of being loved here. "We need to talk properly about it."

"And you think the corridor at school is the best place for that?" I questioned with a disbelieving snort. How on Earth had it come to this? Two years ago, I had a great life. I had a tonne of friends. I was getting good grades. You know, generally enjoying life. I was a typical teenager and now look at me. I'm arguing with my teacher outside his classroom because he kissed me. What had my life turned out to be?

"No, it's not" He agreed as he peered around…probably to check that no one was listening. Ugh, I'm so going to hell. "Look, come by at lunch and we can talk about it"

"Okay, but don't go making any surprise attacks on my lips again" I warned with a point of my finger to emphasise my point. I didn't like that. It scared me. If I'm going to kiss anyone, I want warning and I want to be ready for it.

"I promise I won't" Dimitri sighed. "Only if you want it." I couldn't tell if he was joking or not, so I simply made to go back into the class. Once again, he blocked my path.

"But Rose" He began, "If you think for one second that I've forgotten about the way you acted when that drunk guy hit the bonnet of my car, you're sadly mistaken."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, feeling the lump forming in my throat already and my hands beginning to shake. I didn't want to get into that conversation with him here. I couldn't let him drag me into this. Not when anyone could see my reaction. Why did he keep pushing me into telling him things? Was it not obvious that I wasn't comfortable with telling him?

"It means that you better offer up some sort of explanation or I'm getting in someone professional to help you out. You need to talk about this." He stated seriously. There was absolutely no joking in his voice whatsoever.

And all because I felt so strongly about keeping my secret under wraps, I said one of the worst things I've ever said in my life. "If you do that, I'll scream from the heavens about how you kissed me. You'll lose your job for certain. Maybe a trip to prison would make you less likely to ask questions."

"Do you think that's going to stop me?" Dimitri asked, fixing me with his own determined glare as I cowered away from him. "If that's what it takes to get you some help and make you better than I'm all for it." As soon as the words were in the air, he pushed up the door and stormed back in, leaving me standing out in the corridor feeling like the biggest loser and bitch in the whole world.

* * *

**And the tension mounts ;) I hope you've all enjoyed this chapter! Hey, I think I'm finally getting a system of updating! Anyway, thanks for reading!**

**Baby You're My Immortal**


	11. Chapter 11

Safe And Sound

* * *

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed on the previous chapter. I apologise for leaving it on such a cliff-hanger. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

**Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light – Albus Dumbledore**

* * *

Chapter Eleven

* * *

**Wednesday September 12****th**** 2012, 1:00 pm, lunch.**

My hands shook violently as they pulled the door handle down and yanked the door to Dimitri's classroom open. It seemed that they had been doing that a lot lately. They hadn't been working quite right ever since that man attacked the bonnet of Dimitri's car. It was the same feeling that I had just after the attack. That was the reason why I had to see the therapist. I just wasn't working the way I should. Jenny was there to pick up the pieces of my personality and stick them back together to form something that vaguely resembled how I used to be. It seemed that the pieces were beginning to fall apart once more.

"Rose" Dimitri nodded once he noticed me standing in his doorway. He gestured carefully to the seat opposite me as though he could tell that I was in one of my funny moods. I slipped into the seat, clasped my hands together and attempted to stop them shaking. "What's wrong with you?" His eyes were burning into my hands as they rattled away on top of the desk.

"Nothing" I breathed, willing them to stop. If only I could will all of this away. Absolutely everything. If that was to happen, all of my problems would be gone for good.

"It doesn't look like nothing to me" Dimitri pointed out as his hands engulfed mine to stop them from shaking. In my head, I knew that it was only a kind gesture on his part, but I couldn't stop myself from snatching my hands away defensively. Yes, all of the feelings from the attack were simply rushing back. Dimitri was right, I did need to speak to someone professional about the way I was feeling. Jenny must not have glued me together well enough. "Rose, I was only trying to help."

"Don't bother helping" I snapped viciously. Why could he not understand that I was happy trying to get through this on my own? He was pushing me into telling him things that I didn't want anybody to know.

"Well, if you don't tell me what's going on, I'm going to get you to speak to a therapist" He warned once more. If it was an attempt to scare me into telling him, it wasn't going to work. Even I'm not that stupid.

"So you've said" I spat, slamming my hands onto the desk as I leaned over with an ominous look glinting in my eyes. "Do you remember what I told you?"

"How could I forget?" He questioned, his own dangerous look lurking in those chocolate brown eyes. It didn't seem as though my threat was going to work on him. He seemed too noble to put his own needs before mine. "It was about the most pathetic thing someone has ever said to me."

"And how's that?" I asked, wishing that my threat had been more effective. If it had been, Dimitri probably wouldn't have forced me to come here.

"If you get better, a spell in prison will be worth it" Dimitri answered casually. Oh, whatever you say, Dimitri! No one can be so okay with going to prison. It just doesn't happen.

"Dimitri, I'm not telling you about what happened" I said adamantly. Oh, I wanted to. I wanted to be able to share what happened to me with someone who wouldn't judge me. I had Mason for that, but he refused to talk to me now after what I did. Why is it that I push away everything that's good for me? Does that happen to normal people or is it just me?

"Please, Roza" He whispered. For the first time, I noticed how much this was affecting him as well as me. He was so wrapped up in trying to help me that my silence was causing him physical pain. He wanted desperately to make me better, but I just kept pushing and pushing him away. No wonder he's so frustrated by me all the time. "I just want to help. Let me in."

Once again, Dimitri gave me another first. I found myself believing that it would actually be _okay _to tell him about what happened that night. I began to believe that he wouldn't run from me. With that thought planted firmly in my head, I opened my mouth to begin to explain this to him.

"We went camping" I sighed in defeat, feeling my whole body sag in relief over telling someone. "I knew it wasn't a good idea. Hell, everyone knew it wasn't a good idea…but we went anyway because we didn't want to be known as the uncool ones who put a stop to it. It happened on our first night there. We'd all had a few drinks and we were sitting around the fire acting like idiots. None of us had a care in the world. That's the way it should be. None of us should have had to witness that. There was a rustle in the trees and then a figure burst out into the clearing. I froze there. Yes, I was the stupid one who stood and watched whilst everyone else was clever enough to run. My eyes were simply transfixed by the blood that soaked his shirt. I was too preoccupied looking at the knife glinting in his hand. He stalked straight for me and that was when I began to move. I ran in the complete opposite direction that everyone else ran in. I found myself in dense trees, barely able to weave myself around them. I can still smell the moss and I can still feel the rough bark on the trees. He finally caught up to me. He was too strong for me to get away again. So I did the only thing I could think of doing. I bit his wrist hard and retrieved the knife he dropped as he screamed. It wasn't like I could see anything, so I just stabbed blindly. It hit something and then I ran away. The next day, they found blood-soaked grass, but no body. He could still be alive today and I wouldn't know it. He could be you and I wouldn't have any idea."

Silence fell over us. My shoulders felt lighter. Everything felt lighter. It was almost as though I could simply float away from this scene and leave it all behind me. The idea sounded rather tempting.

"I don't know where to begin" Dimitri finally breathed as he sagged in his chair much like I had.

"I could be a murderer" I cried, finally crying over the dreadful story. Dimitri was in action quicker than I could even blink. It was almost exactly like last night, but he didn't try to kiss me this time. I reckon that he knew better than to try that again.

"Rose, you did what you had to do" He assured as he wrapped a friendly, comforting arm around my shaking shoulders. "Look, I know you're not going to like hearing me say this."

"You still want me to go see the therapist?" I guessed with a gentle nod.

"Yes, I'm sorry" Dimitri whispered. "This is out of my hands. I don't know how to deal with something like that, but I want you to know that I'm with you every step of the way. We can do it separately from the school. No one else needs to know that you're going. I'll drive you down myself if you want me to. I'll even come into the room with you if you want me there. Rose, you need to believe that you're never going to have to feel like you can't tell me anything ever again."

"I'd like that" I mumbled, leaning my head on his shoulder as I ferociously attempted to wipe the tears from my face. "Thank you."

"For what?" Dimitri asked, allowing me to nuzzle into him even though I was probably getting mascara all over his shirt.

"For everything" I answered. Those two words were all that was needed to be said. There was nothing else that could possibly be added. He had literally done everything he could for me. That was more than anyone else had done for me.

"I'm sorry for kissing you" Dimitri finally said with a look that told me that he was ashamed over being that unprofessional.

"I won't tell anyone about that" I promised before deciding to take a leap of faith. "On one condition."

"What's that?" Dimitri asked, turning to face me. It seemed he was going to grow annoyed at all my constant demands soon.

"You don't tell anyone about this" I whispered, placing my hand on his cheek as I sealed our lips. Even if the kiss did taste salty from all of my tears, it was still the best kiss of my life. He wrapped his arms around my waste and pulled me closer to him as he kissed me back just as sweetly as he did last night. It was as though I returned home. It was so familiar even though we had only kissed one other time. The scent of his aftershave was something that I believed I would be happy to smell every day for the rest of my life. The feel of his arms was something that I would be happy to experience every morning as we woke up beside each other.

It was then, sitting in that chair, that I realised that my crush had blossomed into something so much more. What it was is something that I can't answer. Obsession, love, raw attraction. Who knows? I just wished that the answer would come to me soon.

He pulled away, keeping his head resting on my shoulder.

"I won't tell anybody about that" He breathed, making me melt as I felt a gush of air wash of my skin from his mouth. It was enough to make the hairs stand on end. "On one condition."

"What's that?" I mocked, running my fingers through his hair. Wow, that felt like nothing I had ever had the pleasure to feel before. Okay, this was probably sounding creepy. I was completely smitten by my teacher. Oh, what was I to do?

"This can't be our last kiss" He said and I could tell straight away that he was smiling. I didn't even have to look at him. "I want many more kisses exactly like this one. I want a kiss like that every day. I'm afraid that if you don't fulfil this condition, I'll have to shout about what you did and then you'll have to tell everyone about what I did and then we'll have a very problematic situation on our hands. You wouldn't want that, would you?"

"No, I wouldn't" I answered, barely able to keep the laughter from my voice. "Which is why we have a deal, honey."

"Did you just call me honey?" He asked.

"Yes, I did" I replied. "Expect more of that."

10 reasons as to why this day is a bittersweet day:

1) I'm finally going to do something about my mental state.

2) I've finally spoken about what happened to me.

3) I can relax for the first time since the attack.

4) Dimitri and I are no longer arguing.

5) Dimitri and I are in this sort of relationship.

6) Mason still wasn't talking to me.

7) Mia still wasn't talking to me.

8) Christian and Lissa are no longer talking to each other.

9) Lissa seems ready to take Mason and Mia's side.

10) This sort of relationship thing going on between Dimitri and I is going to be confusing as hell.

* * *

**So, it seems that Rose is finally going to get better and get what she wants from life ;) I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Thank God I'm getting the updates in a lot quicker for once!**

**Baby You're My Immortal**


	12. Chapter 12

Safe And Sound

* * *

**Wow, the reception to the previous chapter was astounding! Thanks ever so much for that! So I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Oh, and I guess I should say that I only have one exam left which is on Monday and then there is absolutely nothing that I have to do for 12 weeks! Fanfiction will be my life at that point because…let's face it, I don't have a social life ;)**

* * *

**How we survive is what makes us who we are – Rise Against**

* * *

Chapter Twelve

* * *

**Thursday September 13****th**** 2012, 8:30 am, home.**

I was spooning the last of my coco pops into my mouth when the doorbell rang sharply, giving me one of the biggest frights I have had since the attack. Yes, I'm scared of doorbells now. Who on Earth could that be? No one rings my doorbell. Hell, no one really comes to see me in my flat except for my mother and even that isn't that often.

Hesitantly, I opened the door.

"Hey, can I come in?" Dimitri asked, already poking his head around the door and grinning wildly at me.

"Well, your head's already in…your whole body might as well follow" I said dryly as I opened the door fully for him to come in. For some reason seeing him in my flat now felt awkward. I wished he had given me some notice, so I could have had time to clean up.

"Coco pops?" He questioned as he looked down at the bowl on the kitchen table. A red blush arose as I snatched the bowl away from him.

"I was babysitting a friend's kid last night" I lied. "I just didn't have time to clean up." That was quite possibly one of the worst lies I had ever told in my life. I was ashamed of myself. Everyone knew I was rather gifted in that area. If anyone needed to think of a good lie, coming to Rose was usually their best bet.

"Oh, because I believe that" Dimitri chuckled. Perhaps it would have been a better idea for me to tell him that I act like a child most of the time before we started dating. Holy shit, just saying those words sent shivers down my spine. I was beginning to wonder if it would ever be normal for me to say that. This was surreal.

"So, what did you come over for?" I asked, believing that anything would be better than discussing my habits of eating coco pops.

"You need to promise me that you aren't going to freak out over this" He warned. Well, that didn't sound particularly reassuring. "Oh come on, don't give me that look. Just promise me you'll stay calm."

"Okay, I promise" I sighed, wishing he had would just spit it out before I started worrying.

"Well, I figured the sooner the better" He began. Oh, wouldn't he just tell me what was up? "I booked you in for an appointment this evening at the therapist."

It all came to a shuddering halt.

What? Did those words seriously come out of his mouth? We had only been dating five minutes and I was already mega pissed at him.

"What the fuck, Dimitri!?" I growled. "I never gave you permission to do that!"

"I know you didn't" Dimitri sighed, probably already forming methods to keep my tamed.

"Then why the hell did you do it?" I asked, my voice still unnaturally loud. "It was hard enough for me to even agree to go back to the therapist. That means that if we're going to do this, we are doing it on my terms."

"Look, I know you want to take the reins on this one, but I'm worried about you" Dimitri explained. They were probably all good reasons. I was just too mad to listen to them. "Lately you've been having some weird panic attacks over the attack in the woods. You need to get help."

"Don't mention the attack!" I practically screamed as I clenched my fists against the side of my head, breathing deeply in a feeble attempt to calm myself down.

"This is what I'm talking about" Dimitri warned, already springing into action. Wrestling with me to get me to stop clawing at my own face was so not how I wanted to spend the morning with my new boyfriend. But it still happened.

"No, leave go" I growled in a voice that I didn't even recognise. It was almost as though I was a whole new person.

"Look, you need to calm down" Dimitri grunted, attempting to keep my hands at my sides as he practically lay on top of me to keep me down. "Come to the therapist this evening and then you'll feel better."

"I won't feel better!" I persisted, thrashing wildly around underneath him. Why was his body so heavy? "I've tried the goddamn therapist before. It won't fucking work!"

"Please just try it!" He shouted. That was the first time I had ever actually seen him this mad. It killed me to know that it was my entire fault. "Sitting around and waiting for this problem to go away by itself is not going to work because it won't just disappear."

"Well, we won't know unless we try" I bargained, still wriggling underneath him.

"Just come to the therapist" Dimitri begged. "I'll come in with you if you want me to. I won't leave you." Those words sparked an idea in my mind. Yes, it was probably completely unfair and incredibly irresponsible, but what did it really matter? I crashed my lips onto his…almost immediately he relaxed and slipped into the kiss. Playing on Dimitri's feelings didn't feel like the right thing to do, but I was willing to try anything if it meant I could get out of this goddamn flat and away from the mention of any therapists.

With a force that I didn't know I possessed, I pushed Dimitri roughly off me and scrambled for the door. As soon as I pulled the handle down, his hands were on my hips trying to drag me closer to him. My legs kicked out instinctively. I heard him groan loudly as his hold on me relaxed. It didn't take a genius to figure out where it was that I must have kicked him.

"Rose, stop" He growled, crawling after me rapidly. Just as I got to my feet and made to run for it, his hand grabbed my ankle and I went straight back to tumbling over. This was just like the attack. "I don't want to hurt you." He whispered, his lips grazing over mine as he pushed the door closed once more. It was at that point that I stopped struggling against him. It was at that point that I finally realised that all he was doing was trying to help me and I was simply chucking all of that graciousness and kindness back in his face.

I pressed my lips up against his once more, but this time I didn't have any intention of pulling away from him and attempting another escape. That would be stupid anyway. There was no way I'd actually manage to get out and I wanted to be in his arms right now. In his arms was where I felt safe. No attacker could get me when I'm here.

"I'm safe with you" I whispered, completely unable to summon a louder voice. I was completely worn out physically and emotionally. All I wanted to do now was curl up in bed and sleep until this whole mess was over. "How about I don't go to the therapist today and I just stay here with you forever."

"Do you have any idea how tempting that sounds?" He asked, carefully pulling me towards the sofa. "But it's not reliable. I'm sorry, but you really need to go to the therapist."

"I know" I sighed sadly. It didn't matter what I said to him, he was still going to make me go. After all, it was obviously going to be beneficial to me despite what I may think.

"We need to get to school" He mumbled, playing with the hem of my shirt. The action was only small, but managed to relax me.

"I know" I repeated. Was it really so bad for me to wish that I could just lie on this sofa talking with Dimitri? Hell, it didn't even matter what we were talking about. I would be happy to listen to him discuss what he had for dinner last night if it meant I could be with him for a little longer.

"Come on, we should go" Dimitri sighed as he pulled me up from the sofa, handing me my school bag as I checked my watch.

"We're already late" I grumbled. "We can't show up late together. It would look suspicious."

"So, what do you suspect we should do?" Dimitri asked, chewing at his lip as he tried to think of a plan. It seemed that having a secret relationship with someone is harder than it seems. Is this what it's going to be like all the time until I leave school?

"You call in sick" I said with a bright smile. "It's the least I can do for you after the way I just acted. You deserve some time off work and then no one will know about us or even suspect a thing."

"I don't know about that" He shrugged. "I've got a lot of work to get done. Why don't you stop off?"

"Because if I'm alone in this house, I may just end up packing a bag and running away to stay away from the therapist" I explained deadly seriously. "Who knows how my mind works right now."

"Okay, you have a fair point." Dimitri noted, probably trying to make this sound like a normal conversation. At least he was trying. That's a hell of a lot more than Mason has been doing right now. Or perhaps Mason was just trying too much. No, if I said Mason wasn't trying hard enough then it made me feel less guilty. I guess I'll be sticking to that story from now on. "I'll stop off. I guess I could just carry on with marking work that I'm behind on. When you finish school, walk behind the fire-station and I'll pick you up from there to take you to the therapist."

"Okay" Was all I said as I pecked him on the cheek and slung my school bag over my shoulder. "You can let yourself out."

* * *

**Thursday September 14****th**** 2012, 9:30 am, English.**

"Hey, you're late" Lissa commented as I sat down. Well done on pointing out the obvious there, Lissa. "What happened?"

"Oh, I just forgot to set my alarm last night" I lied. Hey, my talent was back. At least I had one thing going for me right now. "I overslept."

"Well, you didn't miss much in form this morning" Lissa informed as though I actually cared about it. Guilt washed over me almost immediately. She was just trying to be nice to me and help me fit in and here I was, throwing it all back in her face. "Mr Belikov's not in."

"Oh, is he not?" I questioned, acting as though I was completely clueless. "Oh, that's a shame. I was supposed to get my work done at his at lunch. Well, that's just sad. I'll have to do it tomorrow if he's in."

"I know, it's depressing. I had no eye-candy this morning" She joked. "And you weren't here either…hey what's that on your face?"

"Hmm?" I questioned, snapping out of my thoughts before I realised my cheek was stinging like a bitch."

"It looks like a carpet burn" She noted, looking at me with confusion.

"Oh yeah, I fell out of bed" I lied once more as I remembered the wrestling match I had with Dimitri this morning. Yes, this was all bittersweet.

* * *

**Sorry, it's quite short! Anyway I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. It means a lot that you read it!**

**Baby You're My Immortal**


	13. Chapter 13

Safe And Sound

* * *

**Hey, thanks to everyone for reviewing on the previous chapter and thanks to anyone who took the time to read it! Hope you all enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

**Just let me go. I'm on my own. A rolling stone and I'm in the zone – Falling In Reverse**

* * *

Chapter Thirteen

* * *

**Thursday September 13****th**** 2012, 3:30 pm, leaving school.**

You know what freaks me the hell out? The fact that I didn't even leave a list on my last entry. Diaries are no good if the writer doesn't even follow her own rules. Perhaps that's just the start of my downfall. First I'll start off forgetting to leave lists in my diary, then I'll start forgetting to eat breakfast on a morning, then I'll forget to take my meds, then I'll forget to go to school, then I'll forget who Dimitri is, then I'll forget who I am, and then I'll end up in a mental asylum. Yes, that escalated quickly, but it could happen!

The things worrying me this afternoon:

1) How I would act at the therapist. One of the first times I went there, I threw a complete tantrum and ended up calling the therapist worse than shit.

2) How Dimitri would act after seeing me at the therapist. He may say it's all good and that he'll support me now, but who knows how he'll feel after he sees what I'm actually like when all of my problems are revealed.

3) What the therapist would say to me. She could tell me that I'm so screwed up in the head that there's no hope for me anymore and she might as well just check me into the asylum straight away.

Hmm, perhaps this has meant that I have escaped my fate of belonging in an asylum was no longer a fate. After all, I had remembered my list. Yes, perhaps this wouldn't go as bad as I believed it would.

* * *

**Thursday September 13****th**** 2012, 3:40 pm, nearing the fire station.**

Although I had been beginning to feel something in me that could only be described as relief and happiness, these feelings plummeted almost as soon as the fire station came into sight and it was all because I knew that Dimitri was parked behind it waiting to take me to the therapist.

All of my fears over what could happen when I got there came rushing back and it took everything in my will power to keep walking forward rather that turning and sprinting away.

During the entire time that it took me to walk to the car, a small, yet empowering voice continued to whisper: _'It's not too late. If you run now, you won't ever have to face your problems again.'_

Even with this niggling voice at the back of my mind, I managed to make it to the car and slide in to the front seat without anybody noticing me. I believed that this was quite an accomplishment all on by itself. There that means that I've done something to make myself proud today, so there wasn't all that much point in me even bothering to go to the therapist today. Something told me that if I tried to explain my weird logic to Dimitri, he wouldn't be all that eager to listen.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Dimitri asked with a voice that sounded as though he was talking to a baby. Did he really think that I was so emotionally fragile that he had to talk in whispers all the time? Hell, I probably was.

"I'm fine" I lied. Yep, that was the possibly the most common lie in the world. Well, if other people could use it then so could I. "Did you enjoy your day off?"

"I got caught up on a lot of work" He answered as he began driving towards the therapist and the queasy feeling in my stomach only intensified. "Which means that I'll have time for you tonight. How about you spend the night at mine?" At that moment, all the queasiness stopped and I felt a smile growing on my face. Yes, nothing in the world would make me happier than staying over at my safety net's house.

"Yeah, I'd like that" I answered, desperately trying to keep the giggle out of my voice. It was then that I realised that I could be a normal teenager. Well, as normal as one could possibly be under these circumstances. Lots of kids went to therapy. Mine may be a little more severe than theirs, but it's still kind of the same thing. For a girl who could possibly be a murderer, was losing all of her friends one by one, and was dating her teacher…I'd say I'm doing pretty well.

"Great, we're here" Dimitri said as the car slowed to a stop and the queasy feeling returned once more with a vengeance. As though he could sense my nervousness, he leaned over and caressed my cheek gently with the back of his hand. "You're going to be just fine." And with those words, I clutched his hand with my own and simply revelled in his touch. This perfect man was all mine and I was completely screwing it up with my mental health issues. Just my luck.

"Come on" I sighed, dropping his hand and clambering out of the car before I had a chance to think twice about it. He laced his fingers through mine and walked confidently into the building and checked me in as though I was unable to speak for myself. At that moment, I didn't think I would have been able to.

We took a seat in the corner and simply stayed in silence. The gentle sweep of Dimitri's thumb on the palm of my hand was enough to keep my calm for as long as it took the therapist to let me in the room.

"Rosemarie Hathaway?" A soft voice asked just as a door snapped open, bringing me out of my daze.

"Y-yes" I stuttered as I stood up, Dimitri following suit.

"I'm sorry, Sir" She said as she took in Dimitri's tall profile, looking as though refusing him was the last thing she wanted to do. "This is Miss Hathaway's appointment."

"I know, she requested for me to go in with her" He explained. Even I knew this was going to be a stretch for poor little Jenny here. She always liked to abide by rules.

"Please, Jenny" I pleaded. The last thing I wanted to do was go in there without Dimitri by my side. He promised.

"Okay, he can come in" She sighed in defeat as she stepped to the side to allow us both to slip into the pristine room. As soon as I entered, I felt the oppressing air that I hated the last time I was here. "Take a seat" She said as she pointed towards the navy blue, leather sofa in the centre of the room. She took a seat on the armchair next to it and Dimitri stood in the very corner of the room with his arms crossed over his chest defensively. It seemed that this room got to him too. It got too everyone. It was as though it got into your head and made you more screwed up than you were. "Welcome back, Rose."

"Thanks for having me back" I croaked. I wish she would just skip the pleasantries and get started on trying to help me.

"So, what are you doing back?" She asked. Ah, now that was the Jenny I knew and quite possibly despised. Always got to the point when she needed to.

"I'm relapsing" I answered sadly. It was like I had failed. "I keep getting into rages again and thinking about the attack. I'm getting scared again." She nodded in understanding before leaning forward and staring straight into my eyes once more. Oh brilliant, she was going to analyse me again. I always hated those parts of therapy.

"What is it that you want me to do?" She asked. Was she serious? Isn't it obvious what I wanted her to do? I wanted her to make me normal. I wanted her to stop me being scared.

"I want you to make my brain normal" I answered, no longer aware of Dimitri's presence in the room. I was no longer embarrassed to say these things in front of him. If he wanted to be with me, he would learn to deal with me and all of the baggage I come with. He'd learn to love my many faults.

"Okay, that's a reasonable request" Jenny smiled. "So, you want me to help your mind heal?"

"Yes" Was all I said. "Why didn't it work last time?"

"Why do you think you're still scared?" She asked, practically ignoring my question.

"I don't know, I was hoping you could tell me" I sighed, already feeling that weariness overcome me.

"Do you think you killed your attacker?" She asked. Why was she being so blunt with me all of a sudden? Was it because the last approach didn't work? Who knew?

"Why are you asking all of these questions?" I asked. "Shouldn't you be giving me the answers?" She leaned back in her chair and smiled.

"You amuse me sometimes, Rose" She commented. "You come to me for the help and yet you question my ways."

"Are you going to answer my question?" I asked, ignoring what she said.

"I don't give you the answers" She said. "I provide you with the questions to help you get to the answers yourself. That will make your mind heal." I think I understood it then.

"I don't think it worked the last time because I didn't give it a chance" I answered, taking a deep breath. "I thought that by just showing up, you would fix me. I didn't know I'd have to do the work and take steps into the hard part myself."

"Step one is complete" Jenny smiled. "It may have been a small question, but you're answering your own already. Let's take it a step up. Are you scared because you think your attacker could come back?" And just like that, I went straight back to hating her again and it was all because she had gotten it right bang on.

"Sweetie, I know that guy's dead" I said so sweet it was almost bitter. "I stabbed him in the fucking chest. There aint no way he's coming back."

"Rose" Dimitri finally said. I could hear the shock in his voice, but I was past caring.

"Please don't" Jenny said as she finally assessed Dimitri. "You should have heard some of the things she used to say to me. She's way more tamed right now. How do you know Rose?"

"Um, I'm her teacher" Dimitri answered, not enjoying the thought of being analysed by her one bit.

"You're more than just her teacher" Jenny said sceptically, but said nothing more on the matter.

"What is that?" I asked as I pointed to the pictures that were scattered over the coffee table. I had yet to be offered a cup of coffee by Jenny in any of my appointments with her.

"It's a Rorschach test" She answered. "It's more commonly known as the inkblot test."

"What does it do?" I asked, sitting up on the sofa and staring intently at it.

"It's all about psychological interpretation" She answered. It was a brief answer that didn't explain much, but I doubted I was going to get much more out of her. "What do you see?"

"A dog" I answered immediately. It looked just like my family dog that died when I was only seven. Damn, I loved that dog to pieces. When she said nothing and simply scribbled some notes down, I began to fear the worst. "So, does that mean I'm totally crazy and past the point of being helped?"

"No, it means you're just a young girl who likes dogs" Jenny smiled. "Rose, you're a normal girl. You've been through a huge ordeal and your mind hasn't been able to deal with it well. It's perfectly acceptable. Look, I'm putting you on some anti-depressants for now, but I want you back here every week. If you ever have another attack, drop by. I'm sure your 'teacher' would be happy to bring you." I could almost feel Dimitri cringe behind me.

"Thank you, Jenny" I said honestly as I left with the prescription.

* * *

**Thursday September 13****th**** 2012, 4:40 pm, in the car.**

"You have no idea how proud I am of you" Dimitri grinned, dropping a kiss on my cheek that made my heart flutter. "You did so well in there."

"Well, it just means you better give me a really fun night at yours." I laughed, squeezing his hand with mine.

"Oh, I promise I will" He whispered in my ear, pressing one last kiss to my forehead before driving away from the therapist.

* * *

**So, I'm all finished with high school! I hope you all enjoy this chapter!**

**Baby You're My Immortal**


	14. Chapter 14

Safe And Sound

* * *

**Rose-loves-Dimitri: Well done on completing freshman year! I wish you every bit of luck with your sophomore year!**

**Guest: Indeed it does mean that I'll be updating sooner! The only things that I have left to do that are school related is prom and the A level taster session week. As soon as that's done, I'll be updating waaay quicker!**

* * *

**Anyway, now that I have that out of the way I can thank everyone for reading the previous chapter. It really means a lot. Oh, and be sure to vote on the poll that you can find on my profile! Also, I should tell you now that on the 20****th**** July 2013, I'll be going on holiday for two weeks and won't have access to the internet, so I won't be able to put up any of my updates. On the other hand, I'll be able to write for these two weeks which means that by the time I get back home, I'll have plenty of chapters to post for you! Finally, I hope you all enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

**Checkmate, bitch – Rose Hathaway**

* * *

Chapter Fourteen

* * *

**Thursday September 13****th**** 2012, 8:30 pm, Dimitri's house.**

Dimitri's home was so much more different than what I expected it to be. Seriously. It's like the complete opposite to what I had in mind. As soon as I first met Dimitri, I pictured his home to be sophisticated and high class. The kind of home with a cream sofa so uncomfortable that I would rather stand and a plasma screen TV plastered to the wall with one of those built into the wall fish tanks next to it. I expected plants to be everywhere you turned and a state-of-the-art kitchen. I expected a huge bed with an en suite bathroom. I expected the bathroom to be full of candles with a magazine rack next to the bath, full of home improvement magazines. Ultimately, I expected to feel uncomfortable here.

What I found was a cosy home that looked fit for one person. A small living room bore only a tiny television set, but a large bookcase that was full with old western novels. The kitchen was even smaller. There was no dining table. Just a plate by the sink. The bedroom was slightly larger with a wardrobe, some more western novels and a double bed that looked like it would be a squeeze. The bathroom was also small. A shelf stood just above the sink, cluttered with different moisturizers and aftershaves. None of them looked like they had been used all that much.

"It's not much" Dimitri mumbled as he looked on at his place with distaste. "But it's home."

"I love it" I grinned, pulling Dimitri in for a quick and chaste kiss. "It's cosy and subtle. It's you."

"Now that's one way to tell me that I live in a dump" Dimitri joked, his lips lingering over my own as he breathed heavily. If this was his way of playing hard-to-get, it was working very well.

"Hey, don't put words in my mouth" I chuckled, wrapping my arms instinctively around his neck and pulling him down to me. His lips were on mine before I ever had a chance to utter a word. Everything about this kiss was sensual. He was almost beautifully violent with me. Every time I tried to follow his lips, he'd find some way to change it round again just so that I wasn't able to keep up with him. It was amazing…he'd only known me for a short amount of time, but it was like he knew everything about me. He knew what made me tick.

He was overwhelming. Every single thing about him was on my mind. All I could smell was his sweat mixed with only a small amount of aftershave. The scent was enough to make me go weak at the knees. As if that wasn't enough, the shape and feel of his body against me was simply astounding.

"Was that better?" He questioned after he finished his attack on my lips. I was surprised that I was able to form an answer with the way that my brain had seemed to stop working as my lips shook for dear life.

"Average" I teased, although that was the only word that I was physically able to push past my lips. "You're supposed to be making this the best night ever."

"Oh, am I now?" He grinned, pushing his hips straight into me, so I fell into the wall. Both of his hands went to either side of my head and pressed deep against the wall as his breath washed over me.

"Now this is a hell of a lot better" I reviewed. "Minty breath, practically held captive, back against the wall. This is waaay better!"

"You're so weird" He laughed, cutting any of my protests short with his lips once more. He pulled me up against him and dragged me straight towards the bedroom. We fell onto the bed that was barely big enough for the both of us. Although he was trying to prove my point, Dimitri slipped off the bed and thumped onto the floor next to it.

"You okay?" I asked, taking a deep breath because it didn't seem like he was going to let me come up for air too often during this experience.

"Such a mood-killer" Dimitri groaned as he clawed his way back onto the bed. All I wanted to do was laugh, but I figured that would knock his confidence even more, so instead of laughing, I straddled him and pressed a sweet kiss to his forehead.

* * *

**Thursday September 13****th**** 2012, 9:30 pm, Dimitri's house.**

What was I supposed to call this? Sex? Making love? Fucking? I had no clue. It was at that moment that I was really sure what we had just done or what we ever were. And it was at that moment that I realised that I didn't really care because I was ultimately just having fun. I knew one thing for sure…it wasn't serious with Dimitri. That was what made this all the more exciting. We weren't tied to each other. It was all just fun.

Sex wasn't anything like how I imagined it would be. It was horrifically awkward and quite frankly a huge mess, but I realised now that it didn't matter how good or bad it was to a person. All that matters is that you do it with someone you care about. Of course that didn't automatically make it the most mind-blowing experience of your life, but it makes it mean something.

"That was your first time, wasn't it?" Dimitri asked, breaking the silence that had lasted fifteen minutes. Well, that most certainly wasn't the first thing I had expected him to say. I had been expecting some huge speech about how amazing I was…apparently not.

"Was I that bad, huh?" I questioned, attempting to make this sound like a joke even though it had hurt my feelings.

"No, not at all" Dimitri answered, as he pulled me closer to lie by his side. "You were exceptional." And at that moment, the glow flooded back into my face. I'd like to think I looked radiant, but something told me that was highly unlikely. Yes, it'd probably be more fitting to just assume that I'm a red, sweaty mess right now.

"Oh my god, I'm such a slut" I laughed.

Reasons why I'm crazy:

1) I laugh when I call myself a slut.

2) I don't particularly care that I may in fact be a slut.

3) I've just had sex with my teacher.

4) I could be a killer but, you know, that's old news.

"How did you figure that one out?" Dimitri asked, a bemused expression marring his face.

"Because I've known you for a week and a half and I've just had sex with you" I explained, wondering why this topic of conversation wasn't awkward for us. If it had been anyone else, I would have probably been bright red with embarrassment and stuttering over my own words.

"You're eighteen and you've just lost your virginity" Dimitri stated, his delicate fingertips, calloused off the years of woodwork, tracing my arm which sent tingles through me. How come straight after sex, every single sense was heightened? It was completely unfair. "Most girls have lost it at such a young age. You are no slut."

"Whatever you say" I giggled. We said nothing more that night. We didn't have to. No words could have possible improved that moment.

* * *

**Friday September 14****th**** 2012, 6:30 am, Dimitri's house.**

When I woke up that morning, I realised two things that almost brought a tear to my eye:

1) That was the first morning I didn't wake up and think about the attack.

2) I was falling completely in love with Dimitri and there was nothing I could do about it.

Based on those two facts, I couldn't decide if I was happy this morning or if I was sad. The last thing I wanted to do was move too fast with Dimitri. I had been enjoying out having fun time. Perhaps I would have liked to feel more for him at some point, but I didn't want that quite yet. When I woke up this morning, all I could think about was picket fences, barbecues and a swing on the front porch. The infamous Rose Hathaway was turning soft.

On the other hand, I didn't think about the attack when I woke up. That's a huge step for me. It was the first morning that I had woken up without fear being implanted in my brain straight away. I could think of nothing better right now.

After that mini argument with myself, I decided that I may as well just be happy with how things were going and move on with the day. After all, a lot of girls would probably kill (no pun intended) to be in my position right now and I was only 'having fun.' People who have fun should just leave their problems at the door…like their pride and just deal with it later when the fun's been sucked out of whatever it is they were doing. Yes, that sounded like a good plan. I could hardly call it reliable, but it was a plan all the same. I'd stick to that.

"Good morning, Miss Hathaway" Dimitri greeted warmly as I sat up in his bed. He handed me a plate of toast and slipped into bed beside me. Now this was something that I could get used to. Yes, I could see it now. He'd bring me breakfast in bed as he told me about how we could have a wonderful morning together because the children were still asleep…get a grip, Rose! Oh God! I'm actually turning insane. Well, I was insane to start with. We'll just say that I'm growing more insane. Ugh, I'm going to have to start going to therapy alone from now on to talk about how I've turned into some crazy wife with a guy I've been dating a matter of days.

**My verdict: **I'm pathetic. A big mess of patheticness that always seems to get emotionally attached to things as well as people. The attack is the least of my worries right now.

* * *

**Again, I'd just like to remind everyone to vote on the poll on my profile! It'd be really helpful. Thank you! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and thanks to anyone who reviews on it. It means so much that you take the time to give me feedback. I take it all into consideration. Anyway, thanks for reading!**

**Baby You're My Immortal**


	15. Chapter 15

Safe And Sound

* * *

**Thanks ever so much to those who reviewed and to those who voted on my poll. It's still open, so if you haven't voted yet please do! It's really helping me out with deciding which story to write. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter and thanks for reading!**

* * *

**You lived your life like you were on fire – Escape The Fate**

* * *

Chapter Fifteen

* * *

**Friday September 14****th**** 2012, 9:00 am, Form.**

"Mr Belikov's back in" Lissa informed almost as soon as I had sat down. It seemed like she was definitely the person to go to if you needed any gossip or information on the school and its students. "He shot through here like he was on fire. It's probably because he took the day off yesterday. He never does that. It's probably just stressing him out."

"Oh, I don't think he's stressed" I commented with a coy grin to myself. After all, how could he be stressed after the night he had? Something told me that throughout the duration of today, I would be thinking about last night pretty much all the time. It could only be described as perfection.

"You act really weird sometimes" Lissa chuckled, no longer sure how to take me. I guess sometimes I really do just freak people out. "So, can I ask you about the whole Mason issue?"

"As far as I'm concerned that's no longer an issue" I answered as my lips pressed into a tight smile. It seemed that Mason was always going to be a sore topic for me. It was like every time someone mentioned his name, my mind went into overdrive and all I could feel was an anger that couldn't be pushed back down.

"You mean you sorted it all out?" She asked. It killed me to know that I was the bearer of bad news. After all, she hated arguments…hell, she practically cried when Mia and Mason were battling out together at my flat. It hurt more knowing that she was so excited when she believed that we were all friends again. The look on her face could only be described as sheer glee.

"No, I don't mean that at all" I answered softly as though I was talking to a young child. Although I may assume that she's not good at dealing with arguments, I believed she was a lot stronger than I gave her credit for. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay" She sighed, trying to wave it off as though it wasn't important, but I could tell that she had been made miserable by my answer. "So, what do you mean it's not an issue?"

"It's not my fault or problem that he's pissed at me" I answered, finally feeling as though I could put this to bed now without feeling any guilt. It was a brilliant feeling. I'm not even joking, I felt elated right now. So what if I thought I was falling in love with Dimitri? That's not really a problem, right? I mean, it'd be way worse to not have someone to feel that way about. He's there for me and I'm there for him. That's all I need right now.

Woah, I've just put everything in perspective. Oh my god, I'm turning wise and soft all at the same time.

"He's the one who has the problem…not me" I continued. "So, that means that if he wants to put things right then he has to come to me. I'll be all ears, but I'm not going to lose sleep over it if he doesn't want to be friends."

Lissa said nothing. I was beginning to think she was incapable of commenting on how screwed up things were getting. It was kind of amusing to hear how weird my life was turning out. Amusing and kind of depressing. Hmm, perhaps Andre was right to want me to stay away from Lissa.

"I guess that's a good attitude to have" She stated, although she was uneasy around me for the rest of our duration in form class.

* * *

**Friday September 14****th**** 2012, 11:00 am, leaving science.**

"Hey, Rose" A familiar voice called before the scent of cloves attacked me and an arm was slung over my shoulder.

"Ah, Adrian" I sighed. He was friends with Mason. He was probably talking to me to get me to be friends with Mason again and I really couldn't be bothered to listen to it, therefore I wasn't thrilled to see him like the rest of the female population of this school would be. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Hmm, you think seeing me is a pleasure?" Adrian questioned with a smug smirk. Oh, he was intolerable.

"No, I don't" I answered, enveloping him in my own smugness. "I just wanted to make you feel good about yourself for once. Have you just been smoking?"

"Oh, you're just too sweet" He said sardonically, leading me to one of the picnic benches for break. "Yep, I have. Is it that obvious?"

"Just a little" I lied. Well, I didn't want to completely ruin his self-confidence. A little teasing here and there never hurt anyone. At the mention of teasing, I found myself propelled back to last night.

* * *

"_Now, now" Dimitri scolded, littering kisses up and down my neck. "I'm your teacher and that means that what I say goes."_

"You're a dick" I whispered, completely unable to say anything more because my mind was in overdrive…or was it paralysed. I just couldn't figure it out anymore.

"_Any more name-calling and I'll send you home" He warned, trailing his hands up and down my sides, sending tingles all through my body. It took everything I had in me to keep still. When his eyes scanned over me, I didn't feel as though I had to shy away. "You're perfect."_

* * *

"So, how come you get to drink on school premises?" I asked, anything to divert my thoughts from my night with Dimitri. If I kept thinking about it, I was probably in danger of running up to his classroom and trying to relive it.

"When your parents have money, a school wouldn't dare kick you out" He explained "My parents donate a lot of their money to the school for a better education programme. The school know I smoke on their premises, but it's a small price to pay for all the money my parents are bleeding into this place."

"Man, that must be a sweet bargain" I chuckled. "So, you going to give me a smoke then?"

"Nope, you don't get preferential treatment" Adrian laughed as he lit up another cigarette and took a drag. "They'd kick you out in a second if they caught you smoking."

"Come on, just one drag" I pleaded. It had been a long time since I had a cigarette. I hated them, but sometimes I just get that craving. Weird, right?"

"Fine" He sighed. "Shotgunning's fun."

"We are not shotgunning!" I hissed. God, all I wanted was a drag. "Completely inappropriate."

"Come on, no one will do it anymore!" He begged as he leaned across the table at me dramatically "Our lips don't even have to touch. You can just inhale."

"No way in hell" I said adamantly. "You aren't getting anywhere near my lips. Just give me the goddamn cigarette."

"Do you want to get caught?" He asked with a knowing stare. He had a point. Knowing my luck, I'd inhale and a teacher would walk round the corner and I'd be kicked out before you know it.

"Fine" I grumbled, opening my mouth and inhaling as he blew the smoke in my direction. Spluttering, I clutched at my throat. It had been a very long time indeed since I last smoked. I had certainly not been expecting it to be like that. It wasn't anything like how I remembered it. I remembered it as a method of relief…not something that chocked me to the point that I died.

"Lightweight" He chuckled, taking another drag and blowing the smoke into my hair.

"That shit's strong, man" I coughed. "Aren't you supposed to do that with weed?"

"Yeah, but I like to mix things up a little" Adrian laughed, still amused at my downfall. "Well, at least you tried it. That's more than I can say for some others."

"I think I'd rather not try it and keep my dignity in tact" I complained, finally able to breathe properly again.

"Come on, it wasn't that bad" Adrian waved off with a shrug. "I'm going to drop by your flat tonight."

"Um, do I get a say in this?" I asked, only to receive a firm shake of the head. "Fine then. Why are you coming round to mine?"

"Because we need to have a drink and get to know each other again." He said. "It'll be just like old times. Come on, it'll be fun."

"Okay, but we're not going to shotgun again" I warned with a smirk as the bell rang. "Anyway, I'll see you later tonight. I'll text you the address."

"Great, we can talk about what happened during that attack." Adrian said with a completely serious stare. With my heart thumping in my chest, I leafed through all the possibilities as to how he found out about that. Surely Mason couldn't be so mad at me knocking him back that he told people my secret! Sure he might be mad at me, but that doesn't give him the excuse to do that to me. No, Mason just didn't seem like the type. It couldn't have been him. "No, it wasn't Mason who told me about what happened."

"Then who did?" I questioned as I felt a rage bubbling up in my chest. Thank God I had Dimitri's lesson next.

"I told you, my parents are high up" He answered casually. "They know people who know things about you. So, are we still on for that drink." I didn't want to have that drink with him anymore at all. In fact, I would go as far to say that this drink meeting is the last thing I wanted, but I knew that we had to talk through this problem. Perhaps if he knew what happened, he would be less likely to tell people about it.

"Yeah, I'll see you tonight" I muttered, whirling around and storming to my lesson.

* * *

**Friday September 14****th**** 2012, 11:10 am, Woodwork.**

"Rose, can I please have a word with you outside please?" Dimitri asked and by the tone I could tell that this wasn't just so we could plan the next time we could see each other. He looked rather annoyed and he knew it was because of something that I had done.

"Sure, what's up?" I asked, trying to sound as cheerful as possible as I stood in the corridor with him even though my heart was still pounding incessantly in my chest.

"Have you been smoking?" He asked, his lips pressed into a thin line. Funnily enough, I was relieved to hear him say that because really that was the least of my worries right now.

"Don't worry, it was only one drag" I replied with a warm smile. I didn't want him to turn against me. Not now when I needed him most.

"That's not the point" He snapped. "Don't draw attention to yourself." It was amazing how much he sounded like me on my first day here.

"Look, can we please talk about this later?" I asked. "I just thought you might want to know that Adrian knows about the attack." And with that said, I pushed past him and went straight back into the classroom. It was wrong of me to take that out on him.

"What was that all about?" Lissa asked once I had sat back down.

"Oh, he could just smell the smoke on me" I answered casually. Like he said, I couldn't draw too much attention to myself.

"You're turning bad" Lissa laughed.

"Honey, I've always been bad" I replied and then I realised it. Lissa was a friend. I could trust her and she could make me feel better even when I wanted to just mope around. It would be a good idea to keep her by my side. Yes, I'm putting everything into perspective lately.

* * *

**So, what did you guys think? I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and please vote on my poll that is on my profile if you haven't already! Thank you for reading!**

**Baby You're My Immortal**


	16. Chapter 16

Safe And Sound

* * *

**A huge thank you is in order to everyone who reviewed on the previous chapter and to everyone who voted on the poll. It really means a lot to me. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this instalment. Oh, in this chapter any scenes in **_**italics **_**will be Rose thinking about what her future could have been like.**

* * *

**I rise above it all and I'm not coming down because a champion is what they call me now – Falling In Reverse**

* * *

Chapter Sixteen

* * *

**Friday September 14****th**** 2012, 9:00 pm, my flat.**

Why tonight was going to go downhill:

1) Adrian was going to ask questions about the attack.

2) Adrian could tell everyone about it and I'd become the source of the rumour mill once more.

3)I was going to be forced to relive it yet again and that was a setback I couldn't afford right now.

Yes, this was just a few that came to my mind, but I was willing to bet my life that more problems would arise as the night progressed.

As I sat cross-legged on the carpet, I thought about life. I thought about what it should be like for me if I had never gone camping. Perhaps I would have gotten with Mason.

* * *

_"Rose, the guys are waiting for us" He'd remind me as he sat on the sofa and watched me adding the finishing touches to my makeup. "It'll be closing time before we even get there."_

_"Oh, stop complaining" I'd sigh as I grabbed my handbag and gesture for him to follow. "I promise that I'll make it up to you tonight." I'd flirt as I'd pull him up close to me and attack his lips with my own._

_"I'll hold you to that" He'd respond, breathless from my unexpected show of affection._

_"Good" I'd smirk as we left our flat to spend time with Eddie, Adrian and Avery…much to my dislike._

* * *

The unexpected thought brought a smile to my lips. That would have been nice even if I didn't have feelings for Mason. Perhaps I would have actually made friends with Avery. She could have matured a little.

* * *

_"Hey, did you hear about the new teacher?" She'd ask as we sat at one of the picnic benches. This time I would be in the college here._

_"No, who is it?" I'd ask…any mention of a new guy on the block and we'd become sniffer dogs._

_"Mr Belikov" She'd sigh in admiration. "And here he comes." I'd turn and see one of the most beautiful men on the planet walking right past us without a care in the world._

_"Good morning, ladies" He'd say with a smile that was fit to knock us out._

_"Good morning, Mr Belikov" I'd breathe as I tried my absolute best to not look him up and down. "If only I wasn't with Mason."_

_When he was out of ear shot, Avery would proclaim, "He so wants me."_

_"Dream on" I'd scoff._

* * *

I was just beginning to think of another scenario, when the door practically swung off its hinges. I launched up from the floor, already thinking of all of the ways I could attack my intruder. A kick to the balls would probably be satisfactory, but if it was a woman it would have to be a slap to the face.

This is what the attack had reduced me to.

As soon as I saw the cropped hair, I knew it was a man and brought my leg up sharply.

"AGH!" He screamed as he keeled over in pain. "Rose, what the fuck are you doing?"

"Adrian!?" I asked in disbelief. The smell of cloves hit me then and I knew I was right. What the hell was he doing!? Was he asking to be killed? Who could honestly be that stupid? "You're Adrian."

"No shit, Sherlock" Adrian groaned, rolling on the floor as though I had removed a major organ from him. Well, he always had been theatrical.

"Don't get smart with me you wiseass" I warned, helping him up from the floor and directing him to the sofa. "You're the one who burst in here like a murderer. Do you want me to kick you there again?"

"NO!" He exclaimed, already shifting around on the sofa to protect himself. "God no. If you ever do that again, I'll kill you."

"Charming" I chuckled before realising why he was here. I shouldn't have been making harmless jokes with him. At the moment, this guy couldn't be considered as my friend. He was before but, until I understood his motive about wanting to know about the attack, he couldn't be a friend. If it turns out he only wanted to know about it for a harmless reason then perhaps I would reconsider. "Why are you here?"

"You know why I'm here" He answered sadly. Did he even want to know? Was someone holding him to this? Or did he just not want to make me feel sad?

"Too right I know what you want to know" I scoffed. "But why are you asking me this? Why are you opening up old wounds?" Well, it wasn't really him opening this wound. It had never really closed in the first place.

"You're my friend, Rose" He reminded, taking my hand in his and delicately tracing his thumb over it. This small action was enough to make me feel safe and calm. He wasn't trying to be spiteful or mean…I knew that now. "You were my friend before the attack. I just can't figure out why you wouldn't tell me what happened. It doesn't matter how many times I try to come up with an answer, I just can't. I wanted to help you."

"Adrian, don't take it personally" I whispered, pulling him into a hug. Was that the only reason why he wanted to know exactly what happened? Was it really because I didn't tell him the first time and he thought that me telling him was like some sort of ritual of friendship? "There are only handful of people who know what happened?"

"Who are they?" He asked. Was he going to judge himself off them or something?

"My doctor, my therapist, my mum, my dad, Mason" I listed, hesitating before adding, "And Dimitri."

"Dimitri knows?" Mason questioned with shock. "You've only known him a couple of weeks. How did he find out?"

"I told him" I answered simply, hoping that Adrian would just drop the subject soon. If he asked too many questions, he might end up finding something out that he shouldn't. If that happened, it would be the end of Dimitri. I would never forgive myself if something bad happened to him because of me.

"You told him and not me?" Adrian gasped with hurt marring his boyish good looks. It seemed that I was losing all sorts of friends lately.

"Well, it's not really like I had a choice" I lied. Hey, don't judge me…it's not like a little white lie ever hurt anyone. At least it would get me out of this terribly awkward situation. "He's my teacher…I only told him because he saw me coming out of the therapist's office." Yes, one more white lie couldn't make much difference. After all, what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

"Wait, you're still seeing a therapist?" Adrian enquired as confusion swept over his face. "I don't understand…it's been two years…shouldn't you be over whatever it was that happened?"

"Adrian, you can never estimate how long it will take someone to recover from something as traumatic as that" I retorted, not enjoying his scepticism one bit. "Everyone's different. It's just taking me a little longer than it might for other people."

"So, are you going to tell me what was so traumatic?" He asked. If I said no, he would just be hurt and then I'd end up losing yet another friend. Telling him would probably be the wiser thing right now.

"If I tell you" I began, wishing that there was some other way out of this. Dimitri would kill me when he found out that I was sharing all the gory details with other people. "You have to promise me that you won't tell anybody else or mention it to me again. I don't want to be reminded of it every day at school."

"I promise that I won't tell anyone and I promise that I won't mention it to you anymore" Adrian said earnestly as he held his hand over his heart.

"Okay, I'll tell you" I sighed. "Two years ago at that big camping trip, I was attacked. God, I ran for ages, but he caught up to me. We both fought for the upper hand. It was me who got it. My hand fell on his knife in the scuffle and I did the only thing I could think of. I stabbed him. They didn't find him the next day. I'm a murderer."

The silence that fell over us was positively awful. It was deafening. Tension rose between us as Adrian groped for the right thing to say, but he knew that there were no words he could say to make this situation any better.

Instead, he reached out to me and pressed his lips to my forehead in an act of kindness and friendship.

"I'm sorry I didn't give you all the gory details" I whispered. "I figured it would just be best for you to know the short version. Telling the long one tends to take it out of me."

"You're no murderer, Hathaway" He said defiantly.

"Adrian, I am" I argued.

"No, you're not" He pressed. "If the guy that attacked you is dead, you're still not a murderer. You did what you had to do. It was either you or him. If you didn't kill him, he would have sure as hell killed you. Stopping him doesn't make you a murderer, it makes you a hero."

"Adrian, you don't have to lie to me" I sighed pathetically as I sagged into the sofa, taking comfort in just being with someone right now, although I really wished it was Dimitri. That would have made things a lot better for me. After all, he was my safety net. "I know what I am. You shouldn't hang around with me. I'm bad news."

"Rose, shut the fuck up" Adrian snapped. Well, that was a change in attitude. "You're alive. That's all that matters. You did what you had to do. You're still here, but you're wasting your life feeling guilty about something that needed to be done. Seize the day for God's sake. Don't mope around or killing that man will have all been a waste."

That was the wake-up call I needed. Instead of being told that everything was okay and being treated like a mental patient, I was finally levelled with. Someone had finally told me what had needed to be said ever since that night. Someone had finally laid it out in front of me and put it all in perspective.

This didn't mean that I wouldn't still need to go to therapy. I was still going to have those awful dreams that left me in a cold sweat, but I was finally able to stop blaming myself for everything.

This was the first time that I had ever felt able to move forward in my recovery.

"So, are you gonna open that bottle or not?" I asked with a smirk as I gestured to the bottle of wine had had clutched in one hand. He fixed me with a grin as he unscrewed the top and took a swig of it.

Things were starting to look up. Even if the road to recovery was a long one, I was sure I was going to get there. With a smile, I took a swig of the rich wine and felt the weight lift from my shoulders.

* * *

**So, I hope you all liked this chapter and thank you all ever so much for reading! Hope you all have a good week! XD**

**Baby You're My Immortal**


	17. Chapter 17

Safe And Sound

* * *

**Big thank you to anyone who reviewed and read the previous chapter! It means a lot. Again, I would just like to remind you all that I'm going on holiday on the 20****th**** July 2013 and won't be able to update for two weeks. Sorry about that. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter! Feedback is much appreciated.**

* * *

**There is a hell believe me I've seen it; there is a heaven let's keep it a secret – Bring Me The Horizon**

* * *

Chapter Seventeen

* * *

**Monday September 17****th**** 2012, 9:00 am, Form**

Over the past few days, I had barely spoken to Dimitri. I understood exactly what he was doing. The past two weeks had been hard ones for me and he knew that. If he was around me all the time, he'd be suffocating me. After all, no one can take too much of a good thing, right?

So, he had been allowing me a little bit of distance. A weekend away from him and all of my other problems was what I had received…a weekend where it was just me alone with my thoughts.

Surprisingly, I had rather enjoyed it. No, no, no…don't think that. I know, whenever I'm alone with my thoughts, they go to the attack and then I end up going crazy and relapsing into some sort of rage. That didn't happen this time. I didn't even think about that attack at all.

Instead, I thought about the future. I thought about getting my exam results and how happy my parents would be that I had finally graduated high school. I thought about Lissa's wedding and how she'd fret over the invites going out and all the minor details. I thought about how my relationship with Dimitri would be legal then. I thought about how we'd sit together at her wedding, wondering how we'd all grown up so fast.

Yes, there were some tears over the weekend. That was to be expected as I thought of how good all of our lives could turn out. I simply wasn't sad anymore. No, sadness was certainly not a word to describe me right now. To be perfectly honest, I was on top of the world and it didn't seem like anyone was going to be able to drag me down from it anytime soon. No, this was where I belonged.

So, when I got into form that morning, I was incredibly glad to see Dimitri there. Although we had only been dating for a week, it had been tough not being around him for the weekend. After all, he had proven to be my crutch when things had gotten too tough for me to handle.

"Good morning, Rose" Dimitri greeted as he walked past my desk, dropping a piece of paper that I quickly concealed before anyone else could see. "Hello, Lissa."

"Good morning, Mr Belikov" I grinned. "Have a good weekend?"

"Dismal" He replied with a cheeky grin that simply made me melt inside. How was it possible that he could do those things to me in just a matter of moments? "Something was missing. I just couldn't place what it was, though."

"Oh well, you better get that sorted as soon as possible" I winked, opening the piece of paper he gave me under the desk, so no one else could see it.

_I missed you. My room at lunch time? I've got a proposal for you._

My mind raced as I thought of all the proposals he could offer me. What could he possibly want to ask me? Oh, please say it's something really good that's going to completely make my day!

The next time he walked past, I gave him a nod as an answer to his question and rolled the piece of paper up, keeping it in my pocket as a memory of my relationship with Dimitri.

* * *

**Monday September 17****th**** 2012, 1:00 pm, lunch time.**

As I walked to Dimitri's classroom, I could barely contain my excitement as I continued to wonder what it was that he would want to ask me. It had to be something good otherwise he wouldn't have written it down on a piece of paper and made me go through the torture of my first four lessons.

When I arrived, he busied himself with marking some work…oh, so he was going to continue my torture.

"You know, if we weren't at school" I sighed as I stood next to him at his desk. "I'd kiss this information out of you."

"Well, I did lock the door" Dimitri grinned as he aimed a wink my way. "Which means that you're welcome to try."

I crawled onto his lap with a smile, allowing my hands to roam up and down his chest over his shirt. Slowly, I pressed my lips against his as though a sudden movement would cause a bomb to explode. He did nothing for a moment. He just allowed me to move my lips against his and explore his body with my wandering hands.

Suddenly, he grasped me by the waist and roughly kissed back, taking the upper hand with me almost immediately. Oh, so this was going to be some sort of fight for dominance. Didn't he understand that I always win at those? At least I was going to be in for a treat here.

"This will never work" I mumbled against his lips, pulling violently at the ends of his hair. He jerked back, surprised by my roughness before giving me a smirk.

"You think pulling my hair's going to make me ask you my question?" He asked, bemused all the while at what was going on here.

"No, but this might" I said, moving my lips to his neck. I gave him one sweet kiss before trailing my tongue from his clavicle up to his ear lobe. The sound that emanated from his simply fuelled me to do more to him. I allowed my hand to slip under his shirt exploring his chest and stomach.

I left my hand on his stomach with my fingers splayed out just so I was touching more of him and fed from his warmth. He attempted to fight for dominance once more, but I pushed him back with my other hand.

"Fine, you win" He sighed in defeat. I leaned back and sat on his desk in front of him with an expectant smile.

"So what do you want to ask me?" I asked, feeling my heart begin to race again at the prospect of it being revealed in a matter of moments.

He fished his phone from his pocket and showed me the screen. On it was a cottage in Yorkshire. It looked isolated from any other form of civilisation, yet it looked beautiful and well kept.

"Come with me for the weekend?" Dimitri asked hopefully with a shy smile. Why was he so goddamn cute!?

For a moment, delight filled me and I resisted the urge to fling my arms loosely round Dimitri's neck and tell him how perfect he was. Then that feeling of delight bled out of me as I saw the location.

"Filey?" I questioned with a look of pure horror. "Dimitri, I can't go there. That was where the attack happened! How could you suggest something like that? Please, don't ever ask me that again. No, there's no way I'm going. How could you be fucking insensitive."

I knew I was rambling and I knew it was because I was scared of revisiting that place. I was scared to go anywhere near where that attacker could be. What if he was still alive? What if he had crawled back to wherever he lived and nursed himself back to health? What if he still recognised me? What if he saw me on the weekend away and made it his life goal to end my life? What if he harmed Dimitri?

I also knew that Dimitri wasn't purposely trying to scare me which was why it was probably so wrong for me to say those things to him, but my mind was going so fast that words were just spilling out before I even had a chance to process what I was saying. If Dimitri wanted me to go there with him, I had no doubt in my mind that he would have a good reason for it. At that moment in time, I just didn't want to hear it.

"Roza, calm down" Dimitri soothed, pulling me into a hug and smoothing my hair down with a graceful hand. I couldn't fight his touch. My mind was whirring away too fast for me to even register what was happening. "I can explain why I want you to do this."

"I'd like to see you try" I snapped, finally able to push him away. If I was going to hear this, I needed to have a clear head before I judged him.

"I spoke on the phone to your therapist yesterday to see if there's anything I can do to help out more" Dimitri began. "I hated feeling like all I was doing when you were freaking out was standing there and just watching you. Well, your therapist clearly knows that we're together, so she suggested that I take you for a weekend away to where the attack was."

"That sounds like the most ridiculous idea in the world" I scoffed, finally feeling my anger at Dimitri seeping away now that I understood why he had acted the way he had…now that I knew that he had planned this with the belief that it was going to help me on the road to recovery.

"It's not when you think about it properly" Dimitri defended as he readied himself to launch into another explanation. "She only wants me to prove to you that there's nothing to be afraid of even if you're right at the site of the attack. You're not sure if the guy's dead…that must be hard. You were never given the chance to get closure. This could give you that. This could give you a really good chance of getting over what happened to you."

When he put it like that, it started making sense to even me. This could give me a chance to gain some acceptance. If I did this, I'd be able to see that there was nothing to worry about. I'd be able to see that I'm safe. I longed for that feeling. All I wanted to do was sleep in my bed and not be scared of some murderer coming to get me. Is that really so much to ask?

"I understood where you're coming from" I admitted. "But I'm still not sure if I can go through with this." I just didn't think that I had that kind of bravery in me right now. I was paranoid…all that was going through my mind was that the man could still be out there. What if there was a repeat of last time. I just couldn't risk Dimitri like that.

"Roza, I'll keep you safe" He whispered in my ear, intoxicating me with his scent. "Safe and sound. After this, I'd even quit being a teacher. We could be together properly. We wouldn't have to be ashamed of our relationship. Please just come with me."

"We can stick this out together" I sighed. "You don't have to quit your job. You only have to wait a few more months and then we can be together properly."

"I know" He said. "Please just do this…for me?"

"Okay, I'll go with you" I whispered, already feeling the fear creeping in. "I'll face my fear."

"I'm so proud of you" He mumbled in my hair, pressing a kiss to my forehead.

What the hell had I gotten myself into?

* * *

**Well, this chapter is more of a filler, so I hope you all enjoy. Thanks to all who read it and please give me some feedback! Thank you :D **

**Baby You're My Immortal**


	18. Chapter 18

Safe And Sound

* * *

**Thank you to anyone who reviewed! Woo, I got another chapter in before I go on holiday! I'm on a roll! Hope you all enjoy this chapter. It's going to jump ahead to the Friday night where Dimitri and Rose are getting ready to go on their weekend away!**

* * *

**Tell a stranger that they're beautiful, so all you feel is love – Adam Lambert**

* * *

Chapter Eighteen

* * *

**Friday September 21****st**** 2012, 7:30pm, my flat**

Reasons why my hands were shaking madly:

1) I was going on a weekend away with Dimitri. That's a great thing. A weekend of uninterrupted Dimitri time. Who wouldn't love that?

2) I'm going back to the place that I was attacked.

3) I just couldn't shake off the feeling that something bad was going to happen.

"Calm down, Roza" Dimitri mumbled into my hair as he helped me pack. "We'll be back before you know it."

"A lot can happen before you know it" I said stiffly, putting jumpers and long jeans into my suitcase robotically. What was suitable to wear to run away from a crazy murderer?

"Hey, I'll take you for a romantic meal when we get there. How does that sound" Dimitri asked, willing to try anything to cheer me up. "You can wear these heels." He picked up the first pair he saw which was a black pair of strappy heels that were ridiculously difficult to walk in…never mind run.

"Umm no" I sighed, picking up an old pair of trainers that I used to wear jogging and throwing them into the suitcase. "You can't run away from a murderer in a pair of heels."

"You're being silly, Rose" Dimitri sighed, wrapping his arms around my waist and pressing a kiss to my neck. "No one's going to try and harm you. You'll have me around to protect you anyway."

"Comrade, I know" I said earnestly. "But I just don't think you could protect me from a knife-wielding crazy man…unless you have a weapon."

"Okay, I give up" He sighed in frustration, zipping up my suitcase and taking it towards the door. "You won't be getting a romantic meal at all tonight. Come on, we don't want to get there too late."

* * *

**Friday September 21****st**** 2012, 8:30 pm, in the car.**

We had been in the car for what felt like ages. I had tried several times to talk Dimitri out of this, but he was simply adamant that I had to do this if I wanted to recover. My stomach felt awful. It was spinning in nervousness as though I was going to keel over and vomit at any given second. Dimitri kept telling me that I could put the radio on and I kept refusing. He thought it would be a way to calm my nerves, but it only managed to irritate me.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" I asked once more. It was probably the tenth time those words had left my lips.

"Yes, I think this is a very good idea" Dimitri answered, the same words he had used the ten times I had asked. "We've got to spend the weekend here now. We're here and there's no way I'm turning round and driving all the way back home."

When we stepped out of the car, I found that I liked what I saw. The hotel he had booked for us was much better than the camping spot that we had found two years ago. It wasn't overly fancy, but it wasn't run down either.

Dimitri took my hand and led me in through the set of double doors that led into the check-in area.

"Hey, we have a booking under Belikov" Dimitri said as he approached the desk, wrapping his arm tightly around me and pulling me into his chest. Hey, I'm not complaining.

"Of course, mister" The young clerk said as she typed some things rapidly into her computer. "You're on the third floor. Room thirteen." She handed over a key and smiled warmly at us. Since when have hotels used keys? I thought they all changed to those electronic cards years ago for security reasons.

"Thank you" Dimitri said as he led me up the stairs to our room.

When we made it to our corridor, we found a middle-aged man cleaning. I couldn't place my finger on it, but he was creepy for some reason. He only mildly assessed Dimitri, but his stare lingered on me for much longer.

He was a bulky man with greying hair and lots of wrinkles that made him look older than he probably was. The clothes he wore were old too. Long grey pants and an evergreen coat that looked like it was from the sixties. He also wore a granddad cap and a wedding ring on his left ring finger that looked like it had been dragged through the mud.

His fingernails weren't that much better. They were thick with grime and stunk to the high heavens. It was like he had gone out and tried to dig a huge hole in the ground using only his hands.

"'Ello, missy" He greeted with a sickening smile. "I think you'll find yer room to yer liking. Had a group of teenagers in it before yer, so it was a little messy. They'd bin camping, yer see. Course the storm freaked the blighters out an' they checked in 'ere. Kids and camping, eh? Don't understand the appeal. All that mud an' nature. Not my thing at all. An' it's dangerous too. Did yer know that? It's very dangerous camping. Yer ever bin camping, missy?"

"Once" I managed to croak out as Dimitri's arm tightened around me.

"An' did yer enjoy it, missy?" He asked, the smile still broad on his face. "Was it to yer liking?"

"No, it wasn't" I answered, trying to ignore the shake in my voice.

"Aw, what happened to yer?" He asked.

"Just got into some trouble" I answered.

"What's yer name anyway, missy?" He continued.

"Rose Hathaway" I answered.

"Now that's a purty name for a purty girl like yerself" He complimented, although I took no pride in his words. "I recognise that name. Yes, yer name was in the newspaper…'bout two years back. Yer went camping and well, it all went wrong didn't it?. Yer got nerve for coming back, kiddo. He was never caught, y'know. Still out there, missy. Yer wanna wotch yerself."

"Back off, man" Dimitri snapped, pulling me into the room with him and slamming the door behind him.

"Dimitri, can we please leave?" I begged as I sat on the bed, already feeling tears running down my cheeks. "I didn't like him. Everyone here knows about what happened. He was never caught. What if he sees me? Dimitri, we've gotta get outta here now!"

"Roza, calm down" He whispered, once again pulling me close to his chest and smoothing m hair down in that ever so comforting way of his. "He's not going to get here. It's a big place. He could have moved or anything. Besides, that man knows nothing. How would he know if he had been caught or not? The newspaper doesn't publish everything."

"You're right" I sighed, feeling the relief swamp over me. I was being paranoid. There was no way that man could have known what happened to me. He might know the basics, but he doesn't know anything about the attacker. "Yeah, you're absolutely right. I need to do this. That weird man isn't going to stop me."

"That's the attitude to have" Dimitri said, happiness all over his face as he pressed a quick kiss to my cheek in pride. "You know, I have Jenny's mobile number in my suitcase. If you ever need to talk to her on the weekend away, you can. She said she's fine with it. Day or night, you ring her up and she'll talk you through the steps to calm down."

"I love Jenny" I sighed happily as Dimitri lay down on the bed, pulling me closer to him to the point where I was curled up beside him. It was so comfortable to be near him. It was quite literally like I was just basking in everything to do with Dimitri. I believed, at that moment, that I wouldn't have swapped it for the world. "She's a good therapist. I actually think she's genuinely concerned about me…which is more than I can say for half of the other therapists out there. Sure, they're so concerned for one hundred pounds an hour."

"I'm sure they're not really like that" Dimitri laughed. "But Jenny is most certainly one of a kind. I still just can't get over how cool she is about our relationship. Most people would get me fired if they found out what I was up to."

"You're not doing anything wrong" I defended sadly. I simply couldn't understand the problems with me dating Dimitri. I was eighteen. There wasn't even much of an age gap between us. The only reason I'm still in high school is because of a crazy attack that was completely out of mine and Dimitri's control.

"I am, Rose" He sighed, his hand tracing the shape of my shoulder all the while, making me almost fall asleep. "At the end of the day, I'm still your teacher which means that I shouldn't have let my feelings cloud my professional judgement over you. I most certainly shouldn't have acted on my feelings. It was wrong."

"Well, I'm still glad you did it" I whispered with a grin, pressing my lips to his.

"Despite all the trouble I could get into if anyone found out, I'm glad I did it too" Dimitri smirked.

"We'll just have to make sure that no one finds out" I noted. "I can explain why Jenny is so cool about us having a relationship together. She sees how good you are for me. Because of you I've gone back to therapy, I'm about to face my fear and I've gotten a little less angry. You're the lesser of two evils in her eyes."

"I guess that's a compliment" Dimitri laughed, although I could see the pride flashing in his eyes. He was clearly glad that it was him who had been the one to take these steps into getting better. He no longer felt as though he was just standing around watching everyone else do the hard part. He was a part of this now and, for some strange reason that I didn't understand, he was elated about it.

"It is when it's from her" I explained, thinking of the many therapy sessions I had had with her back when the attack first happened. "Getting a compliment from her is like trying to squeeze blood from a stone."

As though the mention of blood brought back the whole reason we were here, Dimitri said, "We'll go to the woods tomorrow. As soon as we've spent some time there, I'll take you straight home and you can spend the rest of the weekend at my house. That'd be a lot better than being in an unfamiliar place."

"That's a wonderful idea, Dimitri" I complimented, glad that I would be going home soon.

"You better rest up" He advised as he turned over in bed, so his chest was against my back. "We're going to have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

"Okay" I sighed, suddenly feeling as though sleep was the most important thing I needed right now. "Goodnight, Dimitri."

"Goodnight, Roza." He whispered back as I fell into a dreamless slumber.

* * *

**Well, I hope you've all enjoyed this chapter and feedback is much appreciated! Sorry it's a little shorter than all of the previous chapters! Anyway, I'll try my best to get in another update before I go on holiday, but I won't promise anything because I really don't know if I can. Enjoy!**

**Baby You're My Immortal**


	19. Chapter 19

Safe And Sound

* * *

**Wow, I guess I underestimated myself. At this rate, I'll be finished the story before I go on holiday XD Anyway, hope you all enjoy this chapter and feedback is much appreciated.**

* * *

**Sorry, got bored of waiting – Snow Villiers**

* * *

Chapter Nineteen

* * *

**Saturday September 22****nd**** 2012, 1:00 pm, going to the woods**

We'd had a nice morning despite the shaky start we had encountered. The hotel offered a free breakfast that we attended (luckily that weird cleaner wasn't there). Dimitri had acted like a perfect gentleman. You know, he pulled my seat out, offered to get me a cup of tea. Stuff like that was what really made a difference.

Obviously the mood between us plummeted when he told me that we were going to have to start making tracks if we wanted to get to the woods before dark. There was a part of me that had hoped that perhaps I could distract Dimitri so much that he would forget the purpose of us even coming here.

"What are we even supposed to do when we get there?" I asked as we walked through thick, dense trees that threatened to swallow us whole the farther in we got.

"Just be" He answered simply. Perhaps I'm just a cynic, but I most certainly couldn't see what was so beneficial about just sitting there.

"Oh, because that's going to help so much" I sighed sarcastically only to find myself on the receiving end of Dimitri's glare. I could understand why he was annoyed at me at the moment. He was only trying to help, yet I was just shoving it back in his face. Hell, I'd be annoyed if it was me who was in his shoes…but that didn't stop me from being cynical of this whole trip.

"So, do you remember where you were sitting when the attacker came for you?" Dimitri asked after what felt like forever of wandering around. He seemed to think I'd only be able to recover properly if I visited the site where it all happened…apparently wandering around the wood wasn't enough. I, on the other hand, felt ready to go home.

"I remember it all perfectly" I answered, assessing where we were, thinking of that night. I definitely passed through here. I could remember it as though it only happened yesterday. Picking up my pace, I let my fingers drag along the trees, feeling the bark that scratched me as I tried to run away. As I walked, I remembered stumbling as though I had been wearing heels on that night. "I definitely passed through here. Where we sat is just a little further in. I'm sure of it."

We pushed through some trees to find ourselves in a clearing. It hadn't been touched since we were here. Hell, I was surprised our tents weren't here. The investigators of the attack must have cleared them out. The same logs that we sat on were still here, circling around what would have been a campfire.

I took my seat where I did that night. I sat with my back to the entrance…that's why I was the last to know about the attacker…that's why I ran a complete different direction…that's why I was focussed on.

"I sat right here" I said, feeling my throat constrict as though I was about to start crying at any second. "Mason was opposite me. This was when he was a scrawny teenager…nothing like what he is now."

"Should I be feeling jealous?" Dimitri asked.

"We were drinking copious amounts" I went on, ignoring his joke simply because if I stopped telling the story, I wouldn't be able to start again. "I could barely even see straight. The temperature was dropping madly. I kept telling the others that we should back up our stuff and try and find a hotel somewhere or even just drive home. It was just as the words left my mouth, the attacker jumped out of the clearing. We could have been safe if I'd just forced them to come with me."

"Very poetic, missy" A cold voice said from behind Dimitri. I jumped and swirled around faster than I ever have in my life. "Sorry for dropping by unannounced. 'Ello again."

"You were the attacker?" Dimitri asked cautiously as my heart pounded wickedly in my chest. My worst fears were becoming real. I had put Dimitri in danger and it seemed that it would be the end of the road for me.

No, it wasn't.

Dimitri was buying us time. The more we talk, the less time he had to kill us. Great plan. He had wanted me to edge away…hopefully this man wouldn't notice, but I just couldn't do it. Dimitri was my boyfriend and at that moment, I realised that I loved him. I couldn't leave him to deal with this attacker alone.

Boldly, I stepped forward in front of Dimitri and fixed my attacker with a glare.

"I got away from you once" I stated with a voice so menacing that I didn't recognise it as my own. "Do you really think I won't be able to do it again?"

"Rose, you've changed in those two years" He noted, cocking his head to the side and fixing me with a sickening smile.

"You know nothing about me" I snapped, wishing I had some sort of weapon to use right now. My eyes scanned the area. Those logs could do some damage. Sure they'd be a bit difficult to use, but I'm sure Dimitri could handle it. Other than that, I could see nothing that could save my life.

"I know that yer used to be tough" He said, the smile never leaving his face. "I know that yer weak now."

"You think this is weak?" I asked, feeling empowerment wash over me. I wasn't scared of this man anymore. I had stared him in the face and I felt more than ready to take him on again. "You came at me with a knife. I got back up. I carried on with my life. Hell, I'd have to be a robot to not be a little scared of what happened. Even so, I'm ten times stronger than you'll ever be."

"Is that what this man told yer?" He asked with a scoff. "He told yer that yer were strong? Missy, you'll be squealing in terror when I'm through with yer. Let's see how strong yer are then?"

I felt Dimitri try and pull me back, but I wouldn't let him. I stood my ground and glared harder than I ever have before. Whatever happened, one of us was going to die tonight…I hoped to God it would be him, but if it was me…well, at least Dimitri would have time to get out of here.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" I questioned. His hand slowly went to the deep pocket of his coat and I knew what he was going to pull out of it.

"Don't yer want to know why I do it?" He asked.

"Not particularly" I hissed.

"My wife died yer see" He began, a far-away look falling over his face. "She was a pretty lass. The night she died was the first night I killed. And I loved it. I had the power. I was the one taking the life. With every kill, the more powerful I got. It was me who took lives. I put everyone what I went through."

"Your wife wouldn't want this" Dimitri jumped in, sensing a chance to persuade the attacker to let us go. "Do you really think she would want you to be a killer? Of course she wouldn't. She'd want you to live a happy life even if she wasn't there to be with you."

"This isn't some soppy love film, kid" He snapped, ripping the knife straight from his pocket. I found myself wishing that I had murdered him that night. At least I would be safe in my guilt. "She doesn't want anything…she's dead! Perhaps I'll kill yer first. After all, yer think yer know all about my wife."

"Why kill him?" I asked calmly. "I was the one who stabbed you. I'm the one kill you never succeeded in. You wouldn't want to leave any unfinished business, would you?"

"Yer right" He noted. "I don't want yer little boyfriend here, though. He can leave."

"I'm not leaving you, Roza" Dimitri growled, pulling me close to him.

"You need to" I sighed sadly. "I've gotten away from this bastard once before. Just trust me." As he stared deeply into my eyes, one thousand words were swapped. He knew what he had to do. Leave and get help as soon as he could. He'd come back for me…with a weapon of some sort. He wasn't going to let me die. I just had to stick it out on my own for a few minutes.

He pulled me roughly up against him, pressed my lips to his and pulled away as quick as he had come down on me. "You are so brave" He whispered before rushing away, leaving me to face the skeletons in my closet alone.

"I've almost missed yer these two years" He started, circling the clearing as the knife glinted in the sunlight. If I got out of this alive, I would definitely have the closure I needed. "How've yer been?"

"Excellent" I hissed venomously, clenching my fists tightly. I mustn't rise to his bait. That's what he wants me to do.

"That's good to 'ere" He smiled. "Yer boyfriend seems nice. Very protective of yer…little old for yer."

"Since when did you care about my well-being?" I asked sweetly. "You're the one holding me at knife-point. I don't think it's my boyfriend I should be worried about." He said nothing, just continued circling the edge of the clearing like an animal about to catch its prey. "If your wife is looking down on you right now, I bet she's so ashamed…of herself for marrying such a disgusting freak of nature."

"Shut up!" He growled menacingly.

"I bet her parents disapproved of you when you first met them" I continued. "But I bet she fought for you. Yes, she picked you over them didn't she? She'll be regretting that choice right now. She'd wash her hands of you in a heartbeat if she was given the chance."

He barrelled into me with a force that I didn't expect from such a frail looking man, pushing me straight into a particularly thick tree. The wind was knocked straight out of me, but I continued to grin at him. It was me who had the upper hand here.

"I bet she wished it was _you _who was dead." I sneered. At my words, he curled my hair that was matted with sweat in his fist and pulled roughly so my head was yanked away from the tree trunk.

"Too bad she's not alive to save yer, isn't it?" He spat and pushed my head savagely back into the tree trunk. I heard a crack and my head swam. Was it my skull that had made that noise or was it just the tree? I didn't know. There was no way I could know.

I crumbled to the floor, pulling my attacker with me who was bringing the knife closer to my face. I could only make out colours and hazy shapes as my head thumped viciously to the point where I thought it may actually explode.

"Not looking so strong now" He said, though it sounded distorted like some horror movie. It was at that moment where I began to believe that I wouldn't be getting out of this alive. Hopefully my insults had bought Dimitri some time.

In the distance, I thought I could see Dimitri sneaking back. My head wasn't right. It most probably wasn't Dimitri. The edges of my vision grew blacker and blacker as rank breath washed over me. The last thing I saw was the glint of the knife as it cut deep into my cheek. The last thing I felt was blood trickling down my face and my head almost splitting open. The last thing I heard was a sickening, wicked laugh and a voice shouting, "ROSE!"

And that was when I blacked out.

* * *

**I'm an evil person, I know. Possibly the biggest cliff-hanger of this story. I so don't feel like I did it justice, though. Anyway, the next chapter will be the last. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Thanks for reading!**

**Baby You're My Immortal**


	20. Chapter 20

Safe And Sound

* * *

**Thank you all so much for the reviews on the previous chapter! They were all fantastic. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the last chapter of this story! It's been so great writing it. Just hoping I do it justice XD**

* * *

**Goodbye old friend. We'll meet again – Escape The Fate**

* * *

Chapter Twenty

* * *

**Sunday September 23****rd**** 2012, 10:30 pm, in hospital**

When my eyes first fluttered open, I saw only white and immediately thought I had made it to heaven. That was up until memories of yesterday flooded back. I could remember my head getting smashed against a tree trunk. I could remember waking up in an ambulance for a brief moment and I could remember getting wheeled into hospital before I blacked out once more.

I took more time to take in my surroundings. Next to me was a bowl full of grapes and on the table at the bottom of my bed there was a colourful array of flowers. By my side, there was Mason. Mason!? What was he doing here? Perhaps now he had decided to forgive me.

It was then that I remembered the huge gash in my cheek because of the knife.

"So, am I like completely disfigured now?" I questioned, my voice coming out much croakier than I expected. He practically launched from his chair where he was almost nodding off.

"Rose, you're awake" He gushed as though I couldn't already figure that out. "How are you feeling? I'll go get the nurse." Just as he began to scurry away, I grabbed onto his hand weakly and attempted to pull him back.

"Don't. I just want to talk to you" I retorted, pulling him closer to me and letting him sit on the edge of my bed. "I'm sorry for everything."

"You don't have to be sorry" Mason smiled, brushing the hair delicately from my face just like a true best friend would. "I overreacted. I shouldn't have forced myself on you. I'm just glad you're okay."

"What happened to Dimitri?" I asked curiously.

"He's fine" Mason answered with a warm smile. "He took a minor knock to the head, but he's okay. It blows that the educational trip he took you on had to be there."

What educational trip? I had to be missing something here.

"Yeah, it really blows" I agreed, although I had no idea what I was agreeing with. "Mase, could you get Dimitri to come here. I want to thank him properly, but don't let the nurse know I'm awake."

"Sure, I'll see you in a little while" He sighed, pressing a gentle kiss to my forehead before leaving the room.

As I lay there in that hospital room alone, I couldn't discern what my emotions meant. I was scared, relieved, worried, and angry all at the same time. What had happened to my attacker?

The door cracked open and Dimitri edged in before closing it behind him once more.

"Roza, I'm so glad you're okay" Dimitri sighed in relief as he took a seat on the edge of my bed much like Mason had.

"What's this about an educational trip?" I asked. "Could you please explain everything that's happened over the past day?"

"Well, I came back for you just as he cut your cheek" Dimitri began, stroking my face gently and I could only see love in his gaze. "I pulled him off you as soon as I could, but you were already unconscious. We got into a little fight. He tried to do the same to me as he did to you, but I got in there first. It was me who killed him."

"Oh Dimitri" I gasped, taking his hand in my own and pressing a kiss to the knuckles. "I'm sorry you had to do that."

"No, I was protecting you" Dimitri sighed. "If that means that I had to kill someone then that's fine. Anyway, by the time I got to the hospital, Kirova was already here and demanded to know the truth. I tried to lie to her, but she knows me too well. So, I told her everything. I told her about the therapy sessions, I told her about how we got together, I told her about your past. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. You did what you had to do" I waved off. "What did she do?"

"Naturally she was mad at me…kept threatening to turn me in to the police" Dimitri explained. "But Kirova and I go way back. We're friends. So, she told me that she'd cover me and created this story about how we went there on an educational trip because I thought you were falling behind the others. "We told the police this and because of the circumstances of the attack, I didn't get charged."

"That's brilliant news" I smiled, but his grim look told me that there was more for me to hear that could probably change my mind.

"But, I can't go back as a teacher" Dimitri sighed. "I need to resign immediately. Kirova will only cover for me if I quit and continue seeing you or if I stay and break things off."

"Why didn't you break things off then?" I asked, trying to ignore the flutter in my chest. Dimitri had actually chosen me over his job. That was quite possible the last thing I had expected.

"Because I love you" Dimitri answered, a smile beaming on his face. "If it means that I need to quit my job to be with you then I'll do it."

"I love you too" I whispered, pulling him close to me despite the pain in my head. "So, is everything okay now?"

"Everything's fine" Dimitri answered, hugging me back with grace. "You've got nothing to worry about anymore."

"Mason didn't answer my question" I chuckled. "Am I disfigured?" Dimitri gave me possibly the weirdest look before tracing the cut on my cheek with his thumb.

"No, you look as beautiful as the day I first met you" Dimitri answered. I knew it was a lie. My hair was matted, my cheek was cut to ribbons, my head was all wrapped up in bandages and I could only imagine how deathly pale I looked. Despite all of this, I was still ecstatic by his compliment.

"Why didn't you tell me she was awake!?" A voice snapped and I looked up to see an old nurse barging in with Mason, Adrian, Eddie, Lissa and Christian in tow. All had guilty smiles.

"Sorry, it kinda slipped out" Adrian explained with a cheeky smirk. "How are you feeling?"

"No questions, lad" The nurse snapped, bustling around the room as though her arse was on fire. Watching her was rather amusing. "Miss Hathaway needs her rest."

"No, I'm feeling perfectly fine" I waved off. "I'd like them to be here."

"But it's not even visiting hours" The nurse said shrilly. So, we had all managed to become rule breakers in the hospital as well.

"I know, but it would really make me feel better." I pleaded.

"Fine, you can have half an hour, but keep it calm" She warned. "I want Miss Hathaway relaxed."

The five gathered around my bed as Dimitri got up. "I should be getting back home now." He said as he gave a wide stretch before whispering in my ear. "As soon as you get back home, I'm coming over and I'm looking after you."

"Looking forward to it" I whispered back.

When Dimitri left, the conversation began. "Rose, I was so worried about you." Lissa gushed, tears almost threatening to spill.

"Vasilisa, keep the tears to yourself" Adrian scolded, thumping onto my bed and pulling me into his arms. "Rose doesn't want to see all of that. Let's face it, she wants to see this beautiful face right here."

"That's the last thing I want to see, Adrian" I joked. He feigned sadness before lying back on the bed as though he was at home.

"You know, we really love you" Christian sighed, as though saying this pained him. He had never really been one to share emotions unless he was talking to Lissa. Just because of the fact that Christian had turned deep with me, I began to get teary eyed.

"Guys, I love you too" I croaked, pulling as many of them as I could into my arms. It was difficult and painful, but I managed it.

This was weird. When I first came to this school, I didn't have the intention of making friends. I didn't have the intention of getting into a relationship and I most certainly didn't have the intention of finally getting over the ordeal I had faced.

Now, I have a group of the most amazing friends in the world who I loved more than anything in this world. I have a boyfriend who is quite possibly the most brilliant man I have ever had the pleasure to meet. I don't have to be scared of my attacker anymore.

Although I was in pain and had put myself through a difficult ordeal, I had never been so happy in all my life.

* * *

**Sunday September 23****rd**** 2012, 11:10 pm, in the hospital**

We had talked about nothing in particular for the thirty minutes we had been given, but that didn't matter. It was enough just to be with them. Hanging out was something I had taken for granted for a very long time.

"Your thirty minutes are up" The nurse said as she flung the door open. "Out you go." They all mumbled goodbye's and shuffled out the hospital room as though their parents had just caught them with their hands in the cookie jar.

When they had all left, the nurse turned to me with a warm smile. "Now you better promise me that you're going to get some rest. It's been a hectic day for you."

"I promise" I smiled back, lying back in my bed and closing my eyes as I heard her close the door.

Only moments later, I was jolted from my peaceful state of mind by a loud buzzing on my bedside table. It was my phone. Dimitri must have brought it in with him.

I unlocked it to find a text from him.

_I meant what I said. You are so brave my beautiful Roza. I hope you're sleeping well. I can't wait to see you next. I love you. D x_

And just like that, I found myself able to relax properly and get the rest I well and truly deserved.

* * *

**I apologise for this chapter being short! Well, what did you all think? I probably didn't do it justice, but I tried. I hope you all enjoyed it! Thanks again to anyone who has read this story and to anyone who reviewed or put it on story alert. It really means a lot. Well, it's been an excellent few months writing this. Thank you all!**

**Baby You're My Immortal**


End file.
